Differences with allies 'narrowing'

GENEVA -- On the eve of his first trip to Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell met here Saturday with the foreign ministers of France, Russia, Britain and China to resolve a diplomatic flap over political transition in Baghdad and afterward said the talks led to "some narrowing" of differences.

Powell acknowledged ongoing "differences and difficulties" but warned that haste in turning over power in Iraq could endanger an already fragile process.

"You have to have a government that is not only there with the doors open but it has to be functioning -- in a way that the people will have confidence in it. It has to be functioning in a way that the people will respect it," he said. "The worst thing we can do is to set them up for failure."

Powell will be getting a firsthand look at the situation in Iraq, assessing reconstruction efforts and the development of democracy after the U.S.-led war that ended the presidency of Saddam Hussein.

The visit is believed to be the first by an American secretary of state since the period more than 40 years ago when Iraq was a pro- Western monarchy.

Powell planned meetings with Iraqis and members of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority "to see firsthand the progress being made by the international community and by the Iraqi people in rebuilding their nation and society from 30 years of Saddam Hussein's destructive rule," according to the statement.

The United States and France remain at sharp odds over both the role of the United Nations and the timetable for handing back power to the Iraqis, according to French officials.

"Our proposals remain on the table. More work needs to be done," French spokesman Herve Ladsous said in an interview after the talks. Paris proposed last week that political power be turned over to a provisional Iraqi government next month, a new constitution be written by year's end and elections held in the spring -- a timetable rejected by the United States as unrealistic.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who summoned representatives of the world's five major powers to Geneva, told a joint news conference that a "thorough review" of the situation in Iraq had been conducted in a "constructive" atmosphere and allowed them to identify "points of convergence."

In a subtle rebuke to the squabbling powers, however, Annan said such a level of consensus was not enough to help Iraq and that a revised approach must be "well defined" to solve Iraq's problems.

"Consensus is essential and achievable," Annan said. "But consensus is not enough. We want a strong and valid resolution which will support our efforts on the ground . . . to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people."

He said the talks would continue in New York in advance of the opening of the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 22.

The differences over a proposed resolution have been so deep among the five permanent members of the Security Council, each with a veto, that the main goal here has been a "break-through in attitude" rather than agreement on specific terms for a new resolution, according to well-placed diplomat in Geneva.

"The key is to get some clarity," particularly on who would oversee the political transition, said a well-placed diplomat in Geneva who requested anonymity.

That much may have been achieved, at least in part.

In his own briefing to American reporters, Powell described the talks as "good, open, candid (and) frank," adding that the foreign ministers had gone back over some points several times to make sure of a clear understanding of goals and positions. Powell credited France with putting forward its own proposals "not in an obstructionist manner."

"Our common goal is to transfer authority back to the Iraqi people as quickly as possible, the question is on what glide path," he told reporters.

At the joint news conference, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said France, like all other participants, sought to "find solutions, not create new problems."

After the talks, which spanned five hours, a senior State Department official said the United States is now fairly confident that none of the other four veto-wielding members of the Security Council will nix the effort, the kind of threat that contributed to the Bush administration's decision last spring to withdraw a resolution that would have endorsed military action.

"We don't smell a veto," the senior official said, although he added that Washington would introduce a new draft of the proposal originally circulated last month after further consultations are complete.

Faced with ongoing security problems and political uncertainty in Iraq, the Bush administration opted to go back to the United Nations to seek its imprimatur as a means of encouraging other nations to provide troops to enhance security and funds for reconstruction. The effort has slowed over the issue of who would control the process once the United Nations became more deeply involved.

The United States wants the coalition it led to topple former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to retain control in coordination with the United Nations, while France wants to impose the United Nations as the ultimate arbiter of the process.

By the end of the talks the French had come around to using the word "gradual" in discussions of the transition process, the senior U.S. official claimed. "They're coming around to accepting reality."

Adnan Pachachi, a former Iraqi foreign minister and U.N. ambassador who is now on the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, said in Geneva that Iraqis want to assume sovereignty as soon as possible. But he also said the process of transition, which includes writing a new constitution and holding elections, might take until mid-2004 -- the proposed U.S. timetable.

Meanwhile, in his weekly radio address Saturday, President Bush said Powell's mission in Geneva is part of a "clear strategy" by the administration in Iraq.

The three-part approach, he said, calls for stamping out the violence that has marred the postwar period, enlisting more international support in the rebuilding of Iraq and aiding the country's move toward self-government.

Bush's comments came in the wake of a new national poll showing a majority of the public questions the administration's handling of post-war Iraq. A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll released Friday found that 59 percent of Americans do not think the administration has a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq.

The president on Saturday said U.S. troops are carrying out a major operation aimed at capturing followers of Saddam and foreign fighters who have infiltrated into Iraq.

The Geneva meeting, which ran more than two hours longer than scheduled, also focused on the deteriorating situation between Israel and the Palestinians. Annan said the quartet that designed the new "roadmap" for peace -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- would meet in New York during the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly next week.

Contributing: Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar; Associated Press.

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