Posted on 11/25/2003 4:59:46 PM PST by TexKat
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Iraqi Governing Council has told the United States a letter it delivered to the U.N. Security Council on Monday asking for a resolution on its timetable for ending the U.S. occupation was a draft version and was sent in error, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
The final version dilutes the Governing Council's request that the Security Council pass a new resolution enshrining the Iraqis' timetable for ending the U.S. occupation, said one senior U.S. official, who asked not to be identified.
"Apparently somebody dropped a draft in the mail and the final version doesn't have the same language," he said.
"They (the Governing Council) don't have a hard position on the time frame for seeking a U.N. resolution and they would want to reflect that in their final version," he added.
The Governing Council, a mainly advisory group of 25 people selected by the United States, sent the letter to inform the Security Council of its proposals for a timetable for gradually transferring power from the occupation authorities to an elected and sovereign Iraqi government.
The timetable, worked out with U.S. and British officials, was due on Dec. 15 and arrived three weeks early. It was requested in an Oct. 16 Security Council resolution that created a multinational force in Iraq.
The Governing Council said it would select a "provisional legislative body" no later than May 31, 2004.
This assembly would elect a provisional government by the end of June 2004 at which time "the Coalition Provisional Authority will be dissolved and the occupation ... will end," the letter said.
A new constitution would be drafted by March 15, 2005, and then presented to Iraqis in a referendum, after which a general election for a new government is to take place before Dec. 31, 2005, according to the letter, sent by Governing Council Chairman Jalal Talabani.
"In light of what had transpired, it has become appropriate for the Security Council to adopt a new resolution taking into consideration the new circumstances," Talabani wrote.
This is good - it can be played all over the board.
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