Leaders of Germany, France and Britain Disagree on Timetable for Power Handover in Iraq

21/09/2003| IslamWeb

The leaders of Germany, France and Britain called for a significant U.N. role in Iraq and a quick transfer of power to the Iraqis. But at a hastily arranged summit Saturday, they disagreed on a timetable for handing over authority. The summit came as France, Germany and others in Europe are squaring off with Washington over how to run post-war Iraq. The United States wants to keep control of the administration and opposes a speedy handover of power, saying Iraqi officials are not ready. Britain has backed the stance that the transfer can't be rushed. The differences have come to the forefront as the United Nations debates a new U.S. draft resolution seeking international money and troops to help rebuild Iraq. France has said it wants the resolution to strengthen the U.N. role and to lay out a timetable for handing over power within months. After their two-hour summit, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he and France's Jacques Chirac and Britain's Tony Blair agreed on "granting the United Nations a significant role and to work together to make possible a transfer of political responsibility to an Iraqi authority as quickly as possible." "We are of the opinion that it is the task of the international community to give Iraq the chance for democracy and stability," Schroeder said. However, the leaders did not present a timetable or any details on how they envision a transition. Chirac indicated continued disagreement. The leaders still "don't entirely agree on the means and the timetable," said the French president, who again insisted the transition of power to Iraqi authorities must be made in a matter of months." The summit brought together Schroeder and Chirac, the most powerful members of the anti-war camp, with Blair, the United States' closest ally, for the first time since the build-up to the Iraq war split Europe. "Whatever differences there have been about the conflict, we all want to see a stable Iraq," Blair said. "We all want to see Iraq make a transition to a democratic government as swiftly as possible, and we all know there must be a key role for the United Nations." Blair said the leaders agreed to leave the details up to diplomats at the United Nations, who have been working on a compromise to the U.S. draft resolution. Schroeder and Chirac have opposed the U.S. draft, which seeks to include countries who did not participate in the war in the rebuilding, because the United States retains too much control. France seeks a timetable that would establish a provisional Iraqi government in a month, a draft constitution by year's end and elections next spring. Aside from the debate over Iraq, the summit also sought to mend fences within Europe and avoid disruptive policy splits as the European Union prepares for government consultations on the addition of 10 new members next year and a common EU constitution, analysts say. "They are trying to establish common ground early," said Reinhardt Rummel, foreign policy expert at the German Institute for International Security. In the pre-war tangle over Iraq, "Europe as a whole lost. Now they say they must avoid this sort of worsening situation," he said. Blair, at the same time, appears to be trying to strengthen his ties with the Franco-German axis that forms the continent's economic and political core. "Blair understands that Britain cannot be an adjunct to the United States," said Stanley Crossick, director of the Brussels-based European Policy Center. Even on Iraq, the pro-war and anti-war camps appear to be making a greater effort at reaching a common understanding -- both emphasizing the need for stability, Rummel said. Striking a conciliatory note, Schroeder wrote in an article published Friday that Germans and Americans should "work together to win the peace" and repeated Germany's offer to train Iraqi security forces, assist with reconstruction and provide humanitarian aid. "We should now look toward the future," Schroeder wrote in an op-ed piece in the New York Times. "We must work together to win the peace." **PHOTO CAPTION*** French President Jacques Chirac, left, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, center, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, answer reporters' questions during the summit of the three countries in Berlin on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2003. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)