Iraq

Report: New resolution faces obstacles at U.N.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is preparing a broad U.N. resolution to endorse its plan to transfer power in Iraq, but it may face a tough sell on proposals guaranteeing legal protection for foreign troops and letting Washington make the final judgments on Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, the Washington Post reports, quoting unnamed U.S. and U.N. officials.

The scope of the powers scheduled to be handed over to an Iraqi provisional government on June 30 could also trigger contentious debate, the officials said. Some key U.N. members are already questioning whether the United States will retain significant control.

Security Council envoys are concerned that the new resolution will convey only partial sovereignty to Iraq, leaving a new government with little legitimacy and ultimate power in the hands of the United States and its military allies. Russia, China, Pakistan and other council members insist that the transfer of power mark a real end to U.S. control and that the United Nations be given wider powers.

BAGHDAD - A suicide boat attack on oil facilities in the Persian Gulf knocked Iraq's two largest terminals out of commission, costing the country almost 1-million barrels of oil exports the first full day of the stoppage, the oil minister said Sunday. The lost exports would have been worth some $28-million.

One of the terminals reopened Sunday, several hours after the attack, but the second, Basra Oil Terminal, will not be reopened until today at the earliest, Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulloum.

SECURITY SPENDING: Because of the surging violence, U.S.-financed contractors rebuilding Iraq are spending a quarter of their money to protect workers and insure their projects, according to American officials monitoring the work. Siphoning resources from reconstruction to security is slowing work on projects like building roads and refurbishing electric plants, the officials said.

LEADERS VISIT: Australian Prime Minister John Howard made a surprise visit to troops in Baghdad for a dawn ceremony commemorating Australia's involvement in the ill-fated World War I Gallipoli campaign. Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov also visited his country's 485 troops.

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