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Trio seek major changes in US-backed Iraq resolution

AP, United Nations
Russia, China and France made clear Friday they want major changes in a US-backed resolution to lift sanctions against Iraq, but Germany indicated it was likely to support the proposal.
With President Bush's administration pushing for a vote next week, Security Council members finished a paragraph-by-paragraph review of the nine-page revised draft resolution late Friday. Many called for a stronger UN role in post-war Iraq and greater transparency by the occupying powers, the United States and Britain, diplomats said.
In key capitals, there were also intensified high-level contacts ahead of what could be a final round of negotiations next week.
Russian Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov told the Interfax news agency after meeting China's Deputy Foreign Minister Yang Wenchang Friday that both countries "believe that provisions in this draft resolution require serious amendments."
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Paris also is pushing for changes in the resolution including a larger UN role in Iraq's reconstruction. "We are proposing a number of modifi-
cations, of amendments, that will make it most effective," he said in an interview with France-Inter radio.
Russia and France have called for sanctions to be suspended - not lifted - and for UN weapons inspectors to certify that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been eliminated, as called for in the Security Council resolution imposing the punitive measures. The inspection issue is not addressed in the draft resolution.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell fared better on a trip to Germany, where Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said it "makes no sense" to keep punitive sanctions on the backs of the Iraqi people.
Schroeder, interviewed later Friday by ARD television, was asked whether Germany would vote for the draft US resolution on sanctions and replied that Security Council members were "moving closer together."
"I expect that sanctions will be lifted quickly," he said. "In the end, this is about the people of Iraq, who must be helped as soon as possible."
After months of acrimony and official snubs, Schroeder's backing of the UN resolution was the first
sign of cooperation with Washington on Iraq. Many in Germany hoped it was a sign that the frayed ties between Washington and Berlin were on the mend.
France, Russia, China and Germany opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq - and Paris, Moscow and Beijing have serious reservations about the US-backed plan for post-war Iraq. Germany, too, has publicly favoured a stronger role for the United Nations in putting together a new interim government for Iraq.
The revised US draft circulated Thursday did not address two key concerns raised by many council members - the limited role of the United Nations in post-war Iraq and the powerful role of the United States and Britain as occupying powers.
Syria's deputy UN ambassador Fayssal Mekdad said that during the review of the draft resolution, the key demands were for a stronger UN role, more transparency in how the United States and Britain are going to run the country, and more specifics on procedures for the sale of Iraqi oil.
"The co-sponsors promised to take all these remarks and to come back to us," he said.