Annan Throws Doubt on International Help in Iraq

America and Britain will face a challenge to persuade the international community to send troops to Iraq unless they agree to share power, the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, said yesterday.

The assessment was delivered as the US and Britain renew their quest to get the international community to shoulder some of the burden in rebuilding Iraq, with Britain's foreign secretary, Jack Straw, visiting the UN yesterday.

Although the security council remains divided over America and Britain's decision to go to war on Iraq, the Bush administration appears to have calculated that such resentments would be swept aside by the outpouring of anger at this week's attack on the UN's headquarters in Baghdad.

On Thursday, the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, was at the UN, and Mr Straw continued the diplomatic drive yesterday to persuade member states to provide troops, as well as economic support, for the reconstruction of Iraq.

However, Mr Annan made plain yesterday that, even after the attack on Baghdad, there was little appetite in the international community for sending troops to Iraq - especially under US command. In his comments on Thursday, Mr Powell gave no indication that the Pentagon would be willing to share authority.

The UN was not considering sending its own peacekeepers to Iraq, Mr Annan told a joint press conference with Mr Straw. But "it is not excluded that the [security] council may decide to transform the operation into a UN-mandated, multinational force operating on the ground, with other governments coming in."

However, "it would imply not just burden-sharing but also sharing decisions and responsibility with the others. If that doesn't happen, I think it is going to be very difficult to get a second resolution that will satisfy everybody."

After the bloodiest fortnight since US forces drove into Baghdad, countries which oppposed the war, such as France, Russia and Germany appear as ill-disposed as ever to US occupation.

Washington's efforts to persuade countries such as India, Pakistan and Turkey to ease its military burden by sending soldiers has also foundered, with the potential contributors balking at the Pentagon's insistence at retaining command over operations.

Mr Annan's comments were given further voice yesterday by the French foreign minister, Dominique Villepin, who told the newspaper Le Monde: "The right thing would be to bring into play a true international force under the mandate of the United Nations."