White House signals bigger role for UN in postwar government

The White House appeared to signal yesterday that it might be willing to accept a greater role for the United Nations in the interim postwar government of Iraq than previously indicated, including a special UN representative with civil administration powers.

The Australian foreign minister, Alexander Downer, met President George Bush in Washington on Wednesday and later said he felt that the argument inside the administration "had been won by those who believe there should be a role for the UN".

"The idea of the United Nations special representative or special co-ordinator is one they feel comfortable with," Mr Downer told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Asked if such a representative would have a role in running the country, Mr Downer said he envisaged "an adviser and an assistant to the Iraqi interim administration", or a "liaison point" between the UN and Iraq's government.

But the idea of a UN figure with any governmental involvement goes further than Mr Bush's speeches to date, which have mentioned little more than that he favours the organisation having some kind of role.

Mr Downer's remarks came as Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, was on his way to Brussels for meetings with officials from European countries to thrash out who should control Iraq after the war. He will be pressured to back a swift transition to an Iraq run by Iraqis. But Washington's current plan is understood to consist of a brief US-led authority which would then oversee the start of an "interim Iraqi authority" with only limited powers.

The US has caused tensions by saying it would welcome financial help from others for humanitarian assistance and rebuilding, but giving initial reconstruction contracts exclusively to American firms.

Downing Street shares the US determination that the US will initially run the country, with a civil administration led by ex-general Jay Garner. But Tony Blair yesterday confidently predicted that the eventual postwar government would be run by Iraqis and endorsed by the United Nations - not run by the UN or the US.

In exchanges with MPs the prime minister denied the Bush administration planned to ride roughshod over world opinion, saying: "As soon as possible, Iraq should ... be run by Iraqi people on the basis of a broadly representative government that protects human rights and is committed to peace and stability in the region."

The Foreign Office minister, Mike O'Brien, said last night Britain would not support a US attempt to govern Iraq indefinitely. "The United States would be silly to think it could run indefinitely a country in the Middle East and it isn't going to do that," he told BBC's Newsnight.