Chirac calls for transfer of sovereignty to Iraqi people

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, September 22, 2003

Chirac calls for transfer of sovereignty to Iraqi people

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President Jacques Chirac called Sunday for the immediate transfer of sovereignty in Iraq to the Iraqi people, and indicated that France would only approve a new United Nations resolution that recognized this need.

In an hourlong interview at the Elysee Palace, Mr. Chirac laid out for the first time a two-stage plan for Iraqi self-rule, the first stage being a symbolic transfer of sovereignty from American hands to the existing 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, with that followed by the gradual ceding of real power over the next six to nine months.

The French president added that if the Security Council, France included, could agree on empowering Iraqis at once, France would be ready to train Iraqi police and soldiers ?either in or out of Iraq. Mr. Chirac also said that France has no intention of sending troops to take part in the American-led military occupation force, although he suggested that circumstances could change.

"There will be no concrete solution unless sovereignty is transferred to Iraq as quickly as possible," Mr. Chirac said in the interview, speaking just before he departed for New York where he will meet President Bush on Tuesday.

The Bush administration is proposing the United Nations resolution to attract more foreign troops and international money to Iraq. Mr. Chirac made clear that he did not intend to veto that resolution, unless it became "provocative."

"I have no intention of opposing the resolution, that is, saying `No,' vetoing it," he said. "I am not in that mind-set at all."

But he said France will vote for the resolution only if it includes a deadline for the transfer of sovereignty and a timetable for the transfer of power, as well as a "key role" for the United Nations. Otherwise, he said, France will abstain.

Without Iraqi self-rule, he said, there is the dangerous situation of a "governor who is Christian and foreign" administering an Arab and Muslim country, and that is "a very difficult situation for any people to accept in the 21st century."

As for the deployment of French combat troops to Iraq, Mr. Chirac said, "We are talking about training, and not sending troops to Iraq, of course."

But at another point, he was slightly less categorical. After saying, "As things are now, there is no situation where I can imagine that France would send troops to Iraq," he added: "Everything could change. I don't have a crystal ball. But for the moment, this is the position of France and the position of a number of countries."

It is not clear whether Mr. Chirac intended to hold out the possibility of deploying French troops--however slight--as a means of negotiating a resolution more palatable to France.

The United States has ruled out any plan to strip the American administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, of his power, saying that a hasty transition to Iraqis would be counterproductive and dangerous. Britain, America's main ally in the war, has expressed similar concerns.

The sharp divergence between the United States and France over the management of post-war Iraq reflects both the scars of a yearlong conflict between two old allies and their profoundly different visions of the place of American power and the role of the United Nations.

Mr. Chirac's proposal suggested that it will be difficult for the two sides to agree on the wording of a resolution that Washington introduced in draft form early this month. Washington put it forward in an attempt to secure the United Nations blessing necessary to attract more foreign troops and more international funds to Iraq.

The Bush administration argues that the Iraqis are not ready for a transfer of power, and that the only beneficiaries of a quick handover would be former Iraqi exiles who are politically active but enjoy little support among the Iraqi people.

Whereas Mr. Chirac believes that the continued governance of Iraq by the United States will produce more violence and require a longer presence of foreign troops, the United States believes that the relinquishing of any authority will create more chaos.

Source: Agencies

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