PUTRAJAYA, Oct 15: The Iraqi Governing Council clashed on Wednesday with representatives from Muslim states meeting here, threatening to veto a resolution over plans for the transition from US occupation to sovereignty.

The heart of the dispute appears to be a demand by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for a defined timetable for the withdrawal of US troops, with the United Nations taking a central role in the transition — issues which have also dogged the US attempt to get a new Security Council resolution.

Despite the differences over timing, Governing Council head Ayad Allawi said elections for a new government would “definitely” be held next year. He told reporters the Governing Council had established a committee to draft a constitution that would be put to a referendum, and then elections would be held to form a government.

Iraq’s interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said changes had been made to the council’s initial draft of the resolution and correct procedures had not been followed at preparatory meetings for the OIC summit opening here on Thursday.

He said that with a new US resolution before the Security Council, there was “a high possibility” that Iraq would ask for a postponement of a decision on the OIC resolution.

The resolution calls for the United Nations to play a “central role in Iraq, covering all aspects of transition: political, security and economic” and for the Security Council to set a “defined and clear timetable for the withdrawal of occupying powers as soon as possible”.

Asked if the objection to the resolution was because of the call for a central role for the UN, Mr Allawi said: “The Governing Council is the central role in Iraq.”

Mr Zebari said: “There were too many amendments to the resolution that it lost the meaning and intention.

“There’s a high possibility that during the summit the Iraq delegation may request to postpone a decision on that resolution because, due to the changing circumstances, especially now at the Security Council, there is a new draft resolution before the council.

“We want to be patient in order not to find ourselves in a conflict with international efforts to stabilize (Iraq),” he told a news conference.

The UN Security Council was preparing to vote on Wednesday on a new US resolution on Iraq as Washington presses for United Nations’ backing that could get more international help for the US-led occupation in Iraq.

The United States and Britain hope the resolution, which gives a UN mandate to a multinational force, will be enough to get wary nations to contribute cash and troops to share the burden and help bring stability to Iraq.

The new resolution gives the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council until Dec 15 to spell out a timetable for writing a constitution and holding elections — in effect, a deadline to set a later deadline for when the occupation might end.

The new version also states that the US occupation would formally decide when the new Iraqi government was officially in place. —AFP