Bush offers UN role in Iraq constitution and elections

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (AFP) - President George W. Bush has said ahead of a major speech to the United Nations on Tuesday that the United States would accept UN help writing Iraq's new constitution and monitoring future elections.

But the White House insisted his speech to the UN General Assembly will be a "call to action" seeking money and troops for post-war Iraq, not a fence-mending exercise.

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And the US leader said he was not certain it was necessary for the United States to seek larger UN participation in political efforts to restore Iraqi sovereignty.

"I'm not so sure we have to, for starters," the president said in excerpts of an interview released by Fox News Channel.

"But secondly, I do think it would be helpful to get the United Nations in to help write a constitution," Bush said. "I mean, they're good at that. Or, perhaps when an election starts, they'll oversee the election. That would be deemed a larger role."

Bush is to address the UN General Assembly amid mounting concerns that the US military is getting bogged down in a widening guerrilla war in Iraq.

But Bush made clear he will tell the international community he has no regrets about going to war.

"I will make it clear that I made the right decision and the others that joined us made the right decision," he said. "The world is a better place without Saddam Hussein."

The United States wants a new UN Security Council resolution mandating a multinational force for Iraq, providing international acceptance to the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. It would also let Iraqis help set the timetable for creating democratic institutions.

But after the wrangling that marked the lead-up to the war, Bush could face new troubles. And France and Germany, which sit on the council, insist on a quick transfer of power from the Coalition Provisional Authority to Iraqi representatives.

That position was reiterated by French President Jacques Chirac in an interview with The New York Times, in which he said France would abstain in a vote on the draft if it did not include a firm deadline and timetable for a transfer of sovereignty. Chirac said he would not veto it however.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan brushed aside questions about the diplomatic battles that marked UN debates before the Iraq war.

"One of the messages the president will take to the United Nations is that that is behind us now," he told reporters. "The world has a stake in seeing us succeed and move towards a sovereign, free and democratic Iraq."

Asked about Chirac's position, McClellan replied: "We have a shared goal of transferring responsibility to the Iraqi people as quickly as possible. There have been some constructive discussions. We are continuing those discussions."

"There have been a number of positive comments about moving forward on a new resolution," said the White House spokesman.

The speech will be the centrepoint of a two-day visit to New York by the US leader.

But he will meet privately with Chirac and hold his first bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 16 months.

He will sit down separately with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, and meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

"The president is going to the United Nations to meet with a number of world leaders and to issue a call to action for UN members to work together to address our shared challenges," said McClellan.

Bush appeared to insist on a seven-step plan for Iraq put together by US civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, that reserves handover of power for last -- and does not specify any dates for interim measures.

"The key on any resolution, however, is not to get in the way of an orderly transfer of sovereignty based upon a logical series of steps," he said. "And that's constitution, elections, and then the transfer of authority."

Faced with diplomatic opposition, Bush said he saw participation of individual UN members in solving the problems of Iraq as an example of an expanding UN role.

"You know when I think UN, I mean, I also think of member states within the UN," argued the US president. "And of course we would like a larger role for member states of the United Nations to participate in Iraq."

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