Paris stands firm
France has insisted on the early transfer of Iraqi sovereignty before supporting any US resolution on Iraq, writes David Tresilian from Paris
French President Jacques Chirac, supported by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, last weekend reiterated French calls for the swift transfer of power in Iraq to an elected Iraqi government. The comments, to the obvious discomfort of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, came during a meeting between the three European leaders and in the German capital Berlin.
The three countries sought to play down ongoing European disagreement over the future of Iraq, with Britain continuing to ally itself with the United States and France and Germany opposing efforts to gain United Nations backing for an enlarged occupation force in the country. Despite their efforts, however, it was clear that sharp differences remained only a few days before the opening of the UN General Conference in New York where a new draft Anglo-American Security Council resolution on Iraq is expected to be discussed.
The draft resolution, which seeks UN backing for an enlarged multinational occupation force in Iraq, was circulated earlier this month but on Monday, President Chirac told the New York Times that France would not support any UN resolution on the future of Iraq that did not explicitly set out a timetable for the transfer of sovereignty to an elected Iraqi government. Chirac explained that France wanted to see a two-stage plan for Iraqi self-rule in which sovereignty would first be transferred from the American administration in Iraq to the existing Iraqi Governing Council, and then to an elected Iraqi government.
There had been speculation that France might lead efforts to veto the new Anglo-American resolution but Chirac said that while France would abstain in any UN Security Council vote on a resolution that did not cede sovereignty to an Iraqi government as quickly as possible, it would not go so far as to veto such a resolution.
In March this year, Chirac's statement that France would veto any Anglo-American Security Council resolution seeking to gain UN approval for a US-led war in Iraq prevented the US from obtaining the UN's support for the war, which subsequently toppled the Saddam regime in Baghdad and led to the present occupation of the country by US-led forces.
The disagreement between the three European leaders in Berlin last Saturday and Chirac's remarks to the US press on Monday came amidst continuing disagreement between Europe and the United States and Britain over how best to manage the deteriorating situation in Iraq, as well as over the UN's role in the country's reconstruction.
Britain was once again left looking isolated in Europe owing to its pro-US stance on Iraq, with one journalist at last weekend's press conference asking the British prime minister whether he had come to Berlin as "President Bush's envoy".
Nevertheless, though little progress was made in healing the rift between Britain and France and Germany over the management of the situation in Iraq, the British prime minister did offer unexpected support at the Berlin meeting for several key Franco-German positions relating to the European Union.
On the failure of both France and Germany to adhere to the conditions of the European Stability Pact, with both countries running budget deficits in excess of the three per cent of GDP rule imposed by the pact, Blair argued for a need to observe greater flexibility in times of economic recession. The British prime minister also supported the Franco-German position endorsing the new EU draft constitution, due to be presented for approval at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Reform of the Union on 4 October in Rome. Blair also said that Britain had "a position more and more in common [with France and Germany] on European defence", despite earlier British concerns that the establishment of a European defence force could weaken NATO.
For his part, US President George W Bush moved swiftly to counter the French proposals for the early transfer of sovereignty in Iraq, telling the US Fox Network on Monday that while "we would like a larger role for member states of the United Nations to participate in Iraq," notably by supporting the US occupying forces there, this did not include allowing the UN a greater role and nor did it include the kind of timetable for an early transfer of sovereignty proposed by France.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Colin Powell had dismissed the French proposals as "totally unrealistic".
In the US itself, there has been a resurgence in the kind of anti-French sentiment seen earlier this year when French institutions and businesses were targeted by supporters of the US- led war on Iraq, aggrieved at efforts made by the French government to find an alternative solution to the crisis. Last week, US commentator Thomas Friedman, star columnist at the New York Times, declared that "France is now our enemy" as a result of French efforts to swiftly establish a sovereign Iraqi government.
President Chirac's statements on the French position on the future of Iraq recapitulated views set out in detail by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin in an article in the French newspaper Le Monde on 13 September. In the article, de Villepin said that France, concerned by the "absence of any tangible political perspective" in Iraq and the risk that the country would "sink deeper into disorder and violence", wanted to see a "radically new approach" that would place the country under United Nations control for a transitional period before the election of a new Iraqi government.
"France," de Villepin wrote, "is ready to work within the UN Security Council with the United States and other states with forces in the country for the benefit of Iraq." However, before it could do so, "the present ambiguous situation must be clarified" because "[it] will lead to setbacks for the Iraqi people and to the discrediting of the international community if it continues."
Only "the perspective of a sovereign political future could nourish hope and allow Iraqi society to be reconstituted," de Villepin wrote. Under the French plan, "the present Iraqi institutions, namely the Iraqi Governing Council and its recently appointed ministers, would be considered by the UN Security Council as holding Iraqi sovereignty for a transitional period."
Then, "within a very short period, for example one month, a provisional Iraqi government could be set up from these institutions, to which power could then swiftly be transferred, including power to decide on economic and budgetary matters."
Following this, a "calendar defining the gradual transfer of power to the provisional government" could be agreed with the UN Security Council. "This calendar should set out the steps for a constitutional process aiming to draw up the text of a new Iraqi constitution before the end of the year. General elections should then be held as soon as possible after this and before spring 2004."
Finally, "as soon as the sovereignty of Iraq is re-established, an international conference should be held in order to discuss the reconstruction of the country," de Villepin wrote.
