The United States and Britain appeared headed last night for another serious international diplomatic clash over Iraq. In their efforts to secure broad support for the post-war management of the country, President Bush and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said in Hillsborough that the United Nations had a "vital role" to play when the conflict was over.
They were unspecific, however, and last night, President Chirac of France said the UN - and he emphasised "it alone" - should be responsible for rebuilding and running the country.
Pre-war divisions which shattered the earlier unity of Security Council efforts to disarm President Saddam Hussein seem destined to re-emerge. On Friday, Mr Chirac will meet the Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin, and the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, in St Petersburg and post-war Iraq is set to dominate their discussions. It is reported that on Saturday, they may be joined by the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan.
Mr Chirac left little room for doubt as to his views last night.
"It is up to the United Nations - and it alone - to take on the political, economic, humanitarian and administrative reconstruction of Iraq," he said after talks with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr Ruud Lubbers.
He said only the world body had the "necessary legitimacy" to undertake such a task, noting that the UN could provide a solid framework for post-war Iraq that would ensure the future stability of the country and the region.
At Hillsborough, Mr Bush indicated the UN would not be the primary mover is setting up an interim Iraqi authority to run the country after a period of military rule. The UN could suggest the names of members to the committee, but the members would be picked by the Iraqis themselves, Mr Bush said.
"There will be a vital role for the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq," Mr Blair said, "but the key is that Iraq in the end will be run by the Iraqi people." Asked for details on the "vital role," Mr Bush said it would be important for providing food and medical aid and legitimising the interim Iraqi authority. "That means being a party to the progress being made in Iraq," he said.
In Baghdad, meanwhile, the war continued apace yesterday as US troops, backed by tanks and air support, tightened their grip on western side of the city centre.
Several buildings in the government quarter were pounded and marines captured the Rashid air base in the south-east, three miles from the centre. The US military said it did not know whether an air strike on a building in a wealthy district of Mansour on Monday night had killed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Four one-ton bombs dropped by a US military aircraft left a crater 60 feet deep.
While US spokesmen keep repeating the war effort is not just about one individual, the coalition has gone to enormous lengths to kill the Iraqi president.
There was widespread anger among journalists in the city at the deaths of three colleagues in two separate incidents in which US forces fired, without apparent justification, at media buildings.
A reporter with the Arab TV station al-Jazeera died when an A-10 tank buster strafed the roof of his building while he stood on it.
Two journalists with the Reuters news agency died when a US tank fired a single shell into the Palestine Hotel where they were staying.
The US said the tank fired after coming under sniper fire from the hotel. However, no witness supported the assertion.