JEDDAH, 27 May 2004 — Saudi Arabia and Italy agreed yesterday that a new Security Council resolution on Iraq should give the United Nations “full powers” to achieve security and cover the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis, the Saudi foreign minister said.
“Concerning ongoing deliberations at the Security Council to issue a resolution on Iraq, the two sides agreed on the need for the resolution to give the United Nations full powers in Iraq,” Prince Saud Al-Faisal said.
Those powers would aim at “achieving security and stability, and transferring power and full sovereignty to the legitimate government,” he told a joint news conference with visiting Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini here. Frattini, who arrived on Tuesday evening, held talks with Crown Prince Abdullah earlier in the day.
US and British diplomats put forward on Monday a draft Security Council resolution that left key issues concerning the handover of power — due on June 30 — unresolved until UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi returned from Iraq.
The draft endorses a “sovereign Iraq” under an interim government being assembled by Brahimi. It formalizes an end to the occupation but sets no date for US-led coalition troops to leave and gives them wide-ranging powers to maintain order and fight “terrorism.”
Prince Saud said he and his Italian counterpart also concurred on the need to “guarantee Iraq’s unity and sovereignty on its soil.”
Brahimi has been in Iraq since May 6 trying to hammer out a consensus on an interim government, which will lead the country from the handover until elections set for January.
Italy has contributed about 3,000 troops to the US-led occupation, the third largest contingent behind the United States and Britain. Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino was in Iraq yesterday visiting the troops at their main base in the southern town of Nassiriyah.
Frattini told reporters that Italy would respect the wishes of the new Iraqi government to be formed by June 30 concerning the presence of its troops in Iraq.
Asked under what conditions Saudi Arabia would be prepared to send troops to Iraq, the prince said the issue had been discussed at the weekend Arab summit in Tunis and Arab states could only take a decision on the matter if they received a request from a legitimate Iraqi government. Prince Saud said he and Frattini also discussed “international efforts to combat terrorism and the need to enhance international cooperation in this respect.” He said their talks were a continuation of the “successful” meeting of GCC and EU foreign ministers held in Brussels earlier this month, adding that the two groups would “hopefully” sign a long-stalled free trade agreement “before the end of the year.”
On another note, Prince Saud said that “the tragic conditions” currently experienced by the Palestinians as a result of Israeli policies of “killing, displacement and the demolition of homes” made it incumbent to “pool international efforts to ensure the necessary protection for the Palestinian people.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia yesterday condemned the shelling of the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. “The Kingdom, which denounces this act irrespective of the side that carried it out, stresses that mosques and tombs have sanctity in Islam which should not be violated,” a Foreign Ministry official said.
