UNITED NATIONS, May 27: China-led UN Security Council members on Wednesday asked the United States for major changes in the draft resolution, including giving Iraqis more authority on their political and military future , and endorsed the end of occupation on June 30.

China unofficially circulated a three-page proposal, supported in large part by Russia, France, Pakistan and Germany - to give the interim government control over the Iraqi army and police and require the multinational force to consult on military actions except for self-defence.

The proposal also says the new Iraqi leaders, who will take power on June 30, should have the right to decide whether foreign forces remain in the country and limits the multinational force's mandate to January 2005, when elections are expected to be held for a transitional government.

"It should say in the resolution that the government has a final say whether the force should be extended and on major actions to be taken by the force," Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said following a meeting on Wednesday.

Pakistan's Ambassador Munir Akram, said: "The endorsement of the US/British resolution should be in response to the wishes of the interim government and the Iraqi people. "I think there is a sense that this is a seminal moment for the Security Council and for Iraq," Mr Akram, said after the meeting.

He said there was "fairly wide support" for the principles that the Chinese and others have outlined - full sovereignty for the interim government, including control over its natural resources, a deadline or some sort of termination for the multinational force, greater Iraqi authority over Iraqi forces, an Iraqi veto over the use of its forces and the interim government's participation in policy decisions about military operations.

Similarly, France said the resolution should not be adopted until two weeks after an interim Iraqi government was chosen. However, US Ambassador John Negroponte, who will become American ambassador in Baghdad, said the resolution did not need to be rewritten or micromanage every function of a new interim Iraqi government. He said junior diplomats would meet on Thursday to "fine-tune" the document.

On France's proposal, Mr Negroponte said consulting Iraqis might not leave enough time to adopt the resolution before June 30. "I assume our French colleague wants the resolution passed before the transfer actually takes place," he told reporters.

Pakistan's Ambassador Akram who also heads the UN Security Council this month said no vote was scheduled until a report from UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. Most council members expect the resolution to be adopted, albeit with some changes.

Agencies Add: French President Jacques Chirac said on Thursday serious improvements were needed to a US-British draft United Nations resolution outlining the handover of power to an interim Iraqi government.