Iraq violence gives UN new clout

Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations' special envoy to Iraq, ended his visit here last week with veiled criticism of the US-led coalition and recommended a transition plan that reshapes the American vision of who should take power June 30.

Given poor relations between the US and the UN, Mr. Brahimi's comments might have drawn a stinging rebuke from Washington. The envoy even described fighting in Fallujah as a form of "collective punishment" pursued by US forces, a highly emotive phrase in the Arab world usually used to describe Israeli actions against Palestinians.

But the Bush administration thanked him; White House Press spokesman Scott McClellan said Brahimi was "helping to move forward on our strategy."

The warm reception for Brahimi's plan, which will dramatically undercut the influence of the US-appointed Governing Council, illustrates how much the chaos inside Iraq in the past month has affected US plans.

With continued fighting between Sunni insurgents and marines in Al Anbar Province, which claimed five more American lives Saturday, and with a tense standoff between US forces and the militant Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Najaf, the US is edging toward the world body it spurned only last year in the run-up to the war.

Some analysts say broader UN involvement in transition plans offers the best chance to create stability in Iraq before elections, scheduled for next January. They say recent fighting has undermined Iraqi trust in the US and its allies on the Governing Council.

"It's very good news that Bush seems to be endorsing Brahimi's plan,'' says Ghassan Attiya, a political scientist and formerly exiled opponent of Saddam Hussein's regime. "The US is turning to Brahimi now to save themselves. They know they're in a mess and Brahimi can help them get out of it."

Dr. Attiya says that US resistance to UN involvement in the past has made it more difficult to draw in troops from the European Union. He said it has also made it easier for insurgents to finger Iraqis working with the coalition as US puppets. "With the UN, we might be able to draw in NATO to help secure Iraq until the elections, and we'd be rid of this ugly word 'occupation.'"

The US sought to expand the Governing Council to as many as 100 members by July 1, with added responsibilities like writing Iraq's electoral laws. They would run most aspects of the state, except for security affairs, until elections could be held. The US plan envisioned three leaders to represent Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds.

Brahimi's plan seeks to appoint a "caretaker" government limited to election responsibilities. It would deemphasize religious and ethnic quota policies that the US supports. He envisions a transitional government with a prime minister, a president as head of state, and a broad-based consultative council to advise the transitional leadership but with no lawmaking powers.

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