UN Security Council meets as deal nears on Iraq

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040606/ts_afp/un_iraq_us_britain_draft

UN Security Council meets as deal nears on Iraq

8 minutes ago


UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN Security Council was called to a special meeting as talks on a US-British resolution outlining the June 30 handover of power in Iraq (news - web sites) inched closer to a deal.



Diplomats said they expected to be presented with the much-awaited letters between US commanders and the new Iraqi government that will govern future military operations in Iraq.

The 15-nation council held a retreat Saturday to discuss the resolution, one of the final pieces in the puzzle that will spell out the legal framework for the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq more than a year after the war began.

"I think we have dealt with almost all of the issues that have been raised. We're getting there," US Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) told reporters travelling with US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) in Europe on Saturday.

Several key council nations, including China and France, had at first indicated serious opposition to the resolution when an initial draft was put forward last month.

But much of the grounding for that opposition melted away after Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the council Thursday that the resolution was "quite adequate" to ensure Iraq would be free to govern its own affairs.

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