Talks by U.N. Fail to Break Impasse on Iraq Self-Rule

Saturday, September 13, 2003

By Steven R. Weisman

New York Times Writer

American officials are openly irritated with Mr. de Villepin, who wrote up his proposals in a sweeping article in Le Monde on Friday, which was not considered diplomatically adroit as a prelude for meetings that were supposed to be confidential. Diplomats involved in the negotiations today said there might be some way of bridging the difference between France and the United States. They said that, in contrast to the dispute before the war in Iraq, Germany and Russia were trying to serve as mediators.

GENEVA -- NYT
The United States and other leading nations on the Security Council held intensive discussions over the future governance of Iraq today but failed to break the impasse over France's insistence that Iraq's transition to self-rule be overseen by the United Nations rather than the American occupation.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who arrived here early this morning, met with his counterparts from other nations and with Adnan Pachachi, a former Iraqi foreign minister who serves on the Iraqi Governing Council, which was appointed by the American-led occupation.

The State Department announced today that Mr. Powell would travel to Kuwait and Iraq on Sunday "to see firsthand the progress being made by the international community and by the Iraqi people in rebuilding their nation and society from 30 years of Saddam Hussein's destructive rule."

The secretary's visit to Iraq had been kept secret for security reasons. His itinerary was not disclosed, but it was apparent that Mr. Powell was hoping that, with his first visit there, he could report that progress was being made toward Iraqi self-government under the timetable established in Washington.

France is seeking the immediate establishment of an Iraqi interim government that would report to the Security Council, not to the occupation authority, and it also wants the Security Council to oversee a process of writing a constitution by the end of this year and holding elections next spring.

Mr. Powell said the American proposal to have the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council report back to the Security Council on its own timetable for self-government had "received positive responses from everyone."

He said an afternoon of discussion with French, Russian, Chinese and British envoys, and with the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, had managed to narrow some differences, but to a limited degree.

"Of course there are differences of opinion on certain aspects of our draft resolution," Mr. Powell said. "The important thing is that we spent our time today looking for points of convergence, and there are many."
(More: NYTimes.com)

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Dan