Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesman on UN role in Iraq

The UN should play either the leading role in Iraq's post-war revival or no role at all, Andrei Granovsky, the director of the international organisations' department of the Russian Foreign Ministry told a press conference in RIA Novosti.

"The UN role should be either leading or none, any intermediate variant is inadmissible," Granovsky stressed.

According to him, the events can develop in two scenarios: either the UN conducts an operation in accordance with the decision of the Security Council which assumes responsibility for everything; it will be the Afghanistan variant when "UN special missions help solve these or that problems". "Occupation forces are now responsible for developments in the country and, therefore, should solve these problems. UN special missions can render humanitarian assistance of its own free will and not because it is responsible for actions of US troops," the diplomat said.

"UN institutions should not submit to the occupation forces," Granovsky stressed.

According to him, there is a second version of developments in Iraq. "Occupation troops leave the country as soon as possible and UN peacekeeping forces, preferably, from Islamic countries, are deployed in Iraq. A UN mission is formed to be in charge of the events. A conference is held to form an interim government and to organise free democratic elections to parliament and legitimate government of the country," the diplomat explained.

Commenting on the draft of the US resolution submitted to the Security Council, Granovsky said "it is very good that the Americans want to assume major responsibility". "They should either do it or ask the UN to perform all the functions," the diplomat said. "The UN should take the leading role upon itself not under the US conditions but on its own principles to form the basis of political settlement - non-intervention with domestic affairs and Iraqi people's control over natural resources of their country," Granovsky concluded.