Political transition agreement a step towards Iraqi sovereignty, Security Council told

The Iraqi Governing Council's announcement last weekend that it had created a political process for choosing a transitional national assembly was a dramatic step in the country's move to full sovereignty in 2004, the United States told the United Nations Security Council today.

In a briefing on developments in Iraq by the partners in the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), US Ambassador John Negroponte told the Security Council that the Agreement on Political Process, which sketches a schedule for the transition to Iraq's democratic sovereignty, should be welcomed by the international community.

Under the process, Mr. Negroponte said, a Transitional National Assembly would be formed through provincial caucuses no later than 31 May. It would elect an executive branch, select ministers and serve as a legislative body.

By 30 June, the new administration would take full responsibility and the CPA would be dissolved, along with the CPA-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, he said.

A body directly elected by the Iraqi people would draft a permanent constitution to replace the transitional government's "Fundamental Law," he said.

"The United Nations has a vital role to play in Iraq and we would welcome the return of United Nations international personnel to Iraq to carry out the mandates of the relevant resolutions," he added.

Resolution 1511 calls on the UN to strengthen its vital role in Iraq by taking such measures as providing humanitarian relief, promoting economic reconstruction and advancing efforts to establish representative local and national governments. The UN's local Iraqi staff members are working on these programmes in parts of the country.

The UN's Baghdad offices were fatally bombed in August, leading to a reduction of the UN presence.

Mr. Negroponte said his government stood ready to discuss appropriate security support with UN officials.

Despite the killings and bombings, much of Iraq was calm, the US Ambassador said. The reality that could "not be captured by a television camera" was that Iraqis were expanding the conditions for security and stability, having added more than 130,000 personnel to the security effort.

In his briefing, British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said, "The more we can do to make rebuilding Iraq a collective enterprise, the more quickly the Iraqi people will achieve the bright future they deserve."

He urged governments that had frozen and held Iraqi funds since 1990 to transfer the money to the Development Fund for Iraq, as required by Resolution 1483.

That resolution, adopted in May, lifted sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion and subsequent occupation of Kuwait.

Mr. Jones Parry said that for the first time in decades Iraq's resources were being used to pay for the needs of all the Iraqi people and details of its 2004 budget were posted on the CPA web site.

In a wide-ranging description of the restoration of distribution and basic services, he said food distribution systems had been restored by August and the supplies of water, electricity and oil had steadily increased.

Baghdad international airport was being refurbished, Um Qasr seaport was functioning at a higher capacity, with a renovated grain-receiving facility, and work had taken place on critical roads and railways, he said.

Nearly 240 hospitals were functioning, nearly 1,800 schools had been renovated with the help of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and all 22 universities had reopened, as had 43 technical schools, Mr. Jones Parry said.