The United Nations ordered a further pullout of
staff from Iraq on Thursday after two suicide bombings in five weeks, in a
setback to U.S.-led efforts to stabilize and rebuild the country.
The withdrawal of dozens of U.N. staff to Jordan over the next few days added
to gloom at the General Assembly over the Middle East, with Israeli-Palestinian
peace efforts in tatters and a crisis looming over Iran's nuclear program.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard called the decision by Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, after a meeting with top security advisers, "a temporary redeployment of
international staff in Iraq."
He said 42 international staff were left in Baghdad and 44 in northern Iraq,
and "these numbers can be expected to shrink further in the coming days."
But Annan stopped short of the total withdrawal demanded by the U.N. Staff
Union after an Aug. 19 truck bomb attack on the world body's Baghdad
headquarters killed special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 other staff, and
a car bomb on Monday killed an Iraqi policeman and wounded 19.
Paradoxically, the decision came as negotiations were under way in New York
to beef up the role of the United Nations in the rebuilding of Iraq's political
institutions.
The United States, responsible for security in Baghdad, said it still wanted
the United Nations to play a vital role in Iraq's reconstruction.
U.N. sources said Annan's security aides had advocated a total withdrawal but
Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed concern about the impact such a move
would have on Iraq. The outcome was a compromise, they said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, a sharp critic of the U.S.-led war to oust
Saddam Hussein, called for a stronger U.N. role in Iraq but did not join France
and Germany in calling for a swift handover of power to Iraqis.
In a conciliatory speech, Putin, who will meet President Bush at Camp David
on Saturday, voiced support for Bush's proposals for U.N. action on the fight
against the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
SECURITY FEARS
The death of a member of the unelected interim Iraqi Governing Council, Akila
al-Hashimi, five days after she was shot in Baghdad, compounded fears of growing
insecurity.
The deteriorating situation overshadowed diplomatic efforts to unite the
Security Council, deeply split over the U.S.-led war, behind a resolution to
create a multinational force and set a framework for self-government in Iraq.
Foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the council -- the United
States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- discussed the way forward with
Annan over lunch.
Powell told reporters he was pleased to see "some convergence of views" on a
new resolution, including a United Nations role in the political process in
Iraq.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw robustly defended the removal of Saddam
Hussein, saying the U.S.-British occupying powers wanted to hand over to Iraqis
as soon as the security situation and the state of Iraqi institutions permit.
"We shall stay in Iraq as long, but only as long, as it is necessary to meet
our clear responsibilities and to restore sovereignty to the Iraqi people as
quickly as we can in an orderly manner," Straw told the General Assembly.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an outspoken war critic, predicted
that attempts to thrust democracy upon Iraq would either fail or cause
instability and insecurity.
"For Iraq to become suddenly a democracy I don't think it will work. ... So
in some cases you may need authoritarian rule," he told a news conference.
The U.S. draft resolution says a timetable leading to Iraqi sovereignty has
to be set by the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council. It calls on the United
Nations to assist the council in writing a constitution and planning elections
in cooperation with occupying powers.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told the assembly that peace efforts
with the Palestinians were at a standstill because of what he called their
failure to dismantle the Hamas militant movement and its "infrastructure of
terror."
Diplomats said there was a sense of despair at a meeting of foreign ministers
of the Group of Eight industrialized powers about the worsening
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Highlighting a building crisis with Iran, diplomats in Vienna said the U.N.
nuclear watchdog had discovered traces of weapons-grade enriched uranium at a
second site in Iran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has given Tehran until Oct. 31 to
prove it does not have a secret atomic arms program or be reported to the
Security Council for possible sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi sounded a defiant note, telling the
assembly: "Iran will vigorously pursue its peaceful nuclear program and will not
give in to unreasonable demands that are discriminatory, selective and go beyond
the requirements of non-proliferation in accordance with existing IAEA
instruments."
