Iraqis win greater authority to govern

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BAGHDAD -- Iraqi political groups won a partial victory last night when the United States introduced an amended Security Council resolution in New York that strengthens the role of an interim Iraqi administration expected to take office within weeks.

The original resolution, which would lift economic sanctions on Iraq, also contains language designed to legitimize the role of coalition forces in Iraq as they share power with an Iraqi "interim authority" that would govern for as long as two years.

But the Iraqi political groups, including the most fervent supporters of the American military invasion, had complained that the term "authority" was too weak and would limit the body's ability to deal with international organizations such as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the United Nations.

Several leaders of the seven major groups that make up the Iraqi Leadership Council said in interviews that they wanted the resolution amended to provide for an interim government with the authority to make key decisions on laws, the political process and the drafting of an Iraqi constitution.

The resolution introduced at the United Nations last night went part of the way in meeting that demand by using the phrase "interim administration," a U.S. diplomat said. He said the change also addressed concerns raised by other Security Council members who agreed that the word "authority" was too weak.

It was not clear last night whether the change would satisfy the Iraqi political groups.

Leaders of those groups, including the passionately pro-American Iraqi National Congress and an Iranian-backed Shi'ite party, had expressed their displeasure with the original language at a dinner with the U.S. civilian administrator, L. Paul Bremer, on Friday evening.

Leaders of the two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, also attended the dinner, held at the former Republican Guard Palace, which houses U.S. and British advisers.

"This draft resolution has everyone opposed," said Hoshyar Zebari, spokesman for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK), in an interview international organizations such as OPEC and the United Nations conducted before the new language was released.