US rejects French plan on Iraq sovereignty

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 23, 2003

US rejects French plan on Iraq sovereignty

The Bush administration on Monday rejected a French proposal that Iraqis regain sovereignty over their country within months as unworkable.

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The Bush administration on Monday rejected a French proposal that Iraqis regain sovereignty over their country within months as unworkable.

"The French plan which would somehow try to transfer sovereignty to an unelected group of people just isn't workable," US national security advisor Condoleezza Rice told reporters at a White House press briefing.

"It's a country that needs an orderly process to get to the writing of a constitution ... followed then by elections and then by the transfer of sovereignty," Rice said.

In an interview with the New York Times on Sunday, French President Jacques Chirac called for the immediate transfer of sovereignty in Iraq to the Iraqi people, but indicated that France would not veto a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on Iraq.

Chirac proposed a two-stage plan for Iraqi self-rule. The plan would consist of a symbolic transfer of sovereignty from Americans to the Iraqi Governing Council, then followed by a gradual processof transferring real power over a period of about six to nine months.

However, the United States opposes any deadlines for the end of US-led occupation in Iraq, saying the Iraqi Governing Council should set a timetable for the transfer.

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