U.N. Will Operate in Iraq From Outside Bases, Annan Says

Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Wednesday that the U.N. would operate from bases in Cyprus and Jordan to help stabilize Iraq because it was still too dangerous to return to the country full time.

“Mounting insecurity cannot be solved through military means alone. A political solution is required,” Annan said in a 26-page report that outlined how the U.N. can help.

The first step, he wrote, is to include some of the Iraqis who have been excluded from the political process, thus giving them a stake in the country’s future. He also urged the U.S.-led coalition to tone down its use of lethal force “even in the face of deliberate and provocative terrorist attacks” in order to undercut popular support for insurgents.

The U.N. is under great pressure from Washington to lend its legitimacy and expertise to the transition to Iraqi self-rule, scheduled for the end of June. But in an effort to protect both his staff and the honor of the organization, Annan is quietly resisting greater U.N. involvement until sovereignty returns to Iraqi hands.

He said his primary concern was safety. “I cannot afford to compromise the security of our international and national staff,” said Annan, who withdrew foreign employees from Iraq in early November after attacks on the U.N. and other foreign aid agencies.

“Under the circumstances, it is difficult to envisage the United Nations operating with a large number of international staff inside Iraq in the near future, unless there is an unexpected and significant improvement in the overall security situation,” he said in the report.

Annan is just as concerned with protecting both the integrity of the United Nations, which was damaged by the failure of diplomacy before the war, and the world organization’s diminished role afterward. Bush administration officials said they were confused by Annan’s demand to play a vital role in Iraq, while refusing to return until security improved.

“We encourage the secretary-general to continue thinking about the return of international staff. It’s hard to play a vital role when the organization is not on the ground inside the country,” said Richard Grenell, a spokesman for U.S. Ambassador John D. Negroponte.

The report seems to be an appeal to history, establishing that the U.N. was poised to play a key role in Iraq before it was rebuffed by the U.S.-led coalition and became a target in August. Now Washington is pressing hard for the U.N. to come back to the country -- and perhaps even take charge of the controversial political transition.

Annan wrote that the U.N. was committed to helping the Iraqi people, but he said he would not put his staff’s lives on the line to take on the occupation’s most difficult problems. “I shall be asking myself questions such as whether the substance of the role allocated to the United Nations is proportionate to the risks we are being asked to take,” he wrote.

Although the report details a number of tasks that the U.N. can start doing right away from outside the country, he seemed to be buying time for a full return after the U.S.-led occupation ends and a U.N. envoy becomes the top international figure in the country, replacing the occupation administrator, L. Paul Bremer III. Annan has named U.N. veteran official Ross Mountain to be the acting envoy until a permanent official is appointed.

That won’t happen until Annan is sure that his representative in Baghdad is independent of the coalition -- and knows exactly what is expected in that job. U.N. officials say the existing mandates for the U.N.’s participation in Iraq are too vague.

“Now is the time for precision,” Annan’s political advisor, Kieran Prendergast, said Wednesday. “To those asking the United Nations to come back into Iraq, or to play a vital role, it’s reasonable to ask them, ‘What do you mean?’ Involvement in what areas, exactly, and on what basis exactly?”

There is also concern among top U.N. officials that, to Washington, the symbolic presence of a U.N. envoy may be more important than what the job entails. Annan emphasized that even though most international staffers had been withdrawn from Iraq, they were continuing to guide thousands of local employees inside the country by phone, e-mail and occasional face-to-face meetings.

After the scheduled June 30 return of sovereignty, if the Iraqi government requests it, the U.N. is prepared to help organize elections in 2004 and 2005, and to assist in drafting a constitution.

While noting that the dangers posed by insurgents are “real” and growing in sophistication and strength, Annan lauded efforts by the U.S.-led authority in provision of basic services and advancement of human rights.

“Very real progress has been made in the past few months. This progress should not be underestimated,” Annan wrote. He also urged countries that had not pitched in to the military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq to participate.