Efforts on U.N. Draft Focus on Control Over Troops

France and China on Wednesday led an effort in the Security Council challenging the U.S. and Britain to ensure that an interim Iraqi government will hold real power, especially over operations by a U.S.-led multinational force.

In a closed-door meeting, some council members complained that a draft resolution by the U.S. and Britain failed to spell out the powers of a caretaker government that is to assume control June 30. The proposal, members said, also failed to specify the control the Iraqi government would have over the operations and mandate of foreign troops.

Several members asked to meet with the yet-to-be-named Iraqi leaders before endorsing them. France suggested a two-week grace period between the naming of the government and a council vote on the resolution to gauge the interim body’s acceptability to Iraqis.

“It’s a good basis for negotiation, but it is not yet a good resolution,” said French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere. “We want to draft a good resolution. So much is at stake.”

Council members indicated that they wanted to show Iraqis and the world that the transfer of sovereignty was authentic.

China circulated a paper -- entitled “Iraq Run by Iraqis” -- with suggested amendments to the resolution. It garnered wide support.

Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said he wanted the interim government’s right to approve any military action on its soil spelled out clearly in the resolution.

But U.S. Ambassador John D. Negroponte said the resolution was a work in progress, ready to be “fine-tuned.” The U.S., he said, did not want to “burden” the resolution with details.

Despite the criticism, most diplomats appeared hopeful about the resolution’s prospects.

“Many countries had strongly articulated positions and made it clear that we need, if not an overhaul of the resolution, significant improvements,” said Algerian Ambassador Abdallah Baali. “I am sure that at the end of the day, all of us will be on board. A united Security Council will send a stronger message to the international community and the Iraqis.”

On Wednesday, U.S. officials joined their counterparts in London in strongly denying suggestions that the allies disagreed on whether Iraq’s caretaker government should be allowed to block military operations by the U.S.-led military forces.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, facing a media storm over the apparent difference after saying Tuesday that Iraq should have veto power over the forces, declared Wednesday that “we are both absolutely agreed there should be full sovereignty transferred to the Iraqi people and that the multinational force should remain under American command.”

Blair said “the ultimate strategy and political decision-making” will belong to Iraqis after June 30.

Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, on Wednesday said the Americans and British were “saying the same thing ... the Iraqi government, come June 30, will have full sovereignty.” At the same time, he said, “if the United States forces are in a position where they need to protect themselves, they will do so.”

But U.S. officials didn’t answer what would happen if Iraqi authorities opposed specific plans by American commanders to strike insurgent positions, other than to say that the two sides would consult.

In Iraq, U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi dismissed reports that he had chosen Hussein Shahristani to be the new prime minister. Brahimi said that Shahristani, who spent the 1980s in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison after refusing to help Saddam Hussein build a nuclear bomb, had not been selected and that revealing the names of candidates would endanger them.

While lauding Shahristani’s qualifications, Brahimi said the scientist had told him that “he would prefer to serve his country in other ways.”

State Department and White House officials insisted Shahristani was one of three finalists for the post, but a spokesman said no one had been chosen.

News about Shahristani’s possible appointment drew reactions ranging from bewilderment to disappointment on the streets of Baghdad.

After escaping from prison in 1991, Shahristani lived in Iran and Britain. He worked with Iraqi refugees but was not linked to politically active exile groups. He has described himself as an advisor to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the influential Shiite Muslim cleric who has several times forced the U.S. to change its plans for Iraq’s future.

“I prefer someone who is actually known by the people and who has worked in government before,” said Iraqi Governing Council member Mahmoud Othman. “Brahimi never talked to us about Shahristani.”

Ultimately, some Iraqis say, whoever becomes prime minister will need more than popularity or an impressive resume to succeed.

“What I really want to know is, can Shahristani manage people?” said Hachim Hassani, first secretary of the Iraqi Islamic Party. “He may be popular because Saddam put him in jail. But, Saddam put a lot of people in jail. Not all of them should be prime minister.”

Farley reported from the United Nations and Duhigg from Baghdad. Times staff writer Paul Richter in Washington contributed to this report.