Germany and France, who were against the Iraq war, agree they should not oppose a new UN resolution Washington is drafting to win more support for its occupation of Iraq, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said today.
Speaking to reporters after meeting United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Mr Schroeder said he had explained France and Germany's joint desire for US occupiers to hand over power to a provisional Iraqi authority as soon as possible.
Asked if the transfer of sovereignty should occur within a few months, Mr Schroeder said: "It could also be fewer than a few."
With its troops in Iraq under almost daily guerrilla attack and costs of its occupation soaring, the United States is working on a new resolution aimed at attracting more international help, in terms of both soldiers and cash.
But Germany, which holds a rotating membership of the UN Security Council, and France, a permanent veto-holding council member, have pushed for more UN control and a faster handover to Iraqis than foreseen in the US draft.
In an interview with the New York Timespublished on its website on Sunday, French President Jacques Chirac said he had no plans to veto the US-drafted resolution but might not support it in its current form, indicating he would abstain.
Mr Schroeder said this position had been agreed with Germany, adding that international efforts to pacify Iraq would have more legitimacy if the Security Council was united.