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U.S. Seeks U.N. Help With Talks On Iraq
Recent U.S. efforts to reach out to Iraq's neighbors have yielded little new cooperation. Arab officials said the Bush administration lacks credibility.
(By Alex Wong -- Getty Images)
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Khalilzad said the new diplomatic initiative would provide a permanent forum for the various sides to hammer out compromises and would permit Crocker and other U.S. officials to hold regular meetings with the key regional powers. The "beauty" of the strategy, Khalilzad said, is that it puts the United Nations in the lead, but with strong political support from the United States.
"Without U.S. backing, their contacts won't carry much weight," Khalilzad said, "because people will say, 'What can you do for me?' "
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has drafted a letter in support of the Security Council resolution expanding the U.N. role in Iraq. But the letter requires that all U.N. diplomatic activities receive "prior consent" from the Iraqi government, according to a copy obtained by The Washington Post. The letter reflects Iraqi fears that any U.N.-brokered deals could diminish the government's power, according to a U.N. official.
The resolution also calls on the United Nations to play a more active role in addressing Iraq's growing humanitarian crisis. The body currently has about 200 international staff members in Jordan, and it channels aid into Iraq through a network of Iraqi nationals and nongovernmental organizations. But the United Nations is providing support for only a small fraction of the nearly 2 million Iraqis displaced inside their country.
U.N. officials said they are exploring "creative ways" to meet the needs of Iraqis who have been forced from their homes by the violence, but they are constrained by the scope of the humanitarian challenge and by the dangers of operating outside the heavily guarded U.N. compound in the Green Zone. "No one should underestimate the difficulties of operating in Iraq," a U.N. relief official said. "People are scared of their lives to go back there."
Khalilzad said the United Nations would appoint David Shearer, an Australian relief official currently serving in Jerusalem, to coordinate humanitarian relief efforts in Iraq.
"We want to be more helpful," said B. Lynn Pascoe, the U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs. "But nobody is charging off to either make the Americans happy or to do something else. What we're trying to do is be as helpful as we can for the Iraqis."
Wright reported from Washington.
