UN resolution on Iraq could be adopted soon

The UN Security Council is close to adopting a resolution on Iraq.

In the past few days, members of the Security Council have been in intense consultations about the fourth draft of a resolution that the United States and Britain officially submitted to the Security Council for consideration on Monday.

On Tuesday morning, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said that Paris would support the American-British resolution on Iraq because "many of its demands were taken into consideration."

Earlier, France proposed an amendment that would allow the interim government of Iraq to possibly control the process of military operations and make decisions about their implementation. The proposal was supported by Russia and Germany, and on Monday, after a heated discussion, the U.S. and Britain agreed to it.

President Putin outlined Russia's position on the resolution at a press conference in Mexico: "The resolution submitted to the UN Security Council has undergone considerable revisions and has changed for the better during its discussion, and there are now grounds to believe that the work on it will bring positive results."

In an interview with RIA Novosti, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov noted that whether the resolution was passed would depend on its final content. Moscow insisted on the inclusion of a number of clauses aimed "at raising the degree of the independence of the new Iraqi government and at ensuring conditions under which that government would be supported both inside Iraq and by the international community."

China, which is the fifth permanent member of the Security Council and has the right to veto, said that its position was not definite but most likely positive.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said that the United Nations should play a key role in Iraq and that the opinions from different sides of Iraqi society should be taken into consideration in the resolution.

The experts polled by RIA Novosti noted that it was very possible that a compromise had been found, because the new draft contained key elements - international legitimacy of the Iraqi interim government and the government's control of military operations in Iraq after the June 30 transfer of power.

The resolution is likely to be voted on Tuesday evening, Moscow time.