U.S., Britain Differ on Iraqi Authority Over Foreign Troops

A U.S. official, who only spoke on the condition that he not be identified, said that Iraq would retain the authority over its forces not to engage in military action. But there has been no suggestion that Iraq would have any control over coalition troops.

France, Germany, Russia and China have expressed misgivings about the resolution, saying it does not offer full sovereignty to Iraqis. Envoys from those governments said the draft does not resolve many key political issues, including the extent of Iraqis' control over their security forces in the months ahead and the duration of the multinational force's stay in Iraq.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the new Iraqi government "must be able to make decisions over security issues, or else it won't be truly sovereign," wire services reported Tuesday.

French President Jacques Chirac said today that the U.S.-British draft resolution has some positive aspects but needs further discussion. Chirac's office said the French head of state told Bush in a telephone conversation that there must be a "real" transfer of power to Iraqis on June 30.

Chirac did not say what France wanted changed in the draft, presented on Monday to the 15-member Security Council.

Previously, France has said the resolution should make clear that the interim government has a say over what actions are taken by U.S.-led forces after June 30.

France also wants the new Iraqi government that will emerge from subsequent elections to be able to decide whether international forces remain in the country.

Commenting on his conversation with Chirac today, Bush said, "What President Chirac and others have said is they want to make sure that the transfer of sovereignty to the interim government is a real transfer. And that's what we want."

He said during a photo opportunity at the White House, "We want there to be a complete and real transfer of sovereignty, so that the Iraqi citizens realize the fate of their country is now their responsibility."

McClellan said later that in the telephone call, Bush and Chirac "noted that there was broad agreement on the resolution in a number of areas, and they also talked about adjustments to be done in other areas of the resolution." He declined to provide specifics, but noted that "when resolutions are put forward like this, there is always likely to be some changes made as we move forward."

Russia's Interfax news agency said today that Russia wants further work on the resolution, which it says leaves many questions unanswered, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting a Foreign Ministry source.

"The document leaves Russia and other members of the Security Council asking many questions and needs further work," Interfax quoted the source as saying.

The council will resume negotiations on the draft on Wednesday. U.S. and British officials said they hope to have the resolution adopted by early next month.

Blair said that transferring "operational authority" for security to Iraqis was essential to convincing the Iraqi public that coalition military initiatives were in their interest, rather than in the interest of an occupying power.