UN mandate looks likely after pledge /Jordan Times

[Gloria]

http://www.jordantimes.com/mon/news/news2.htm

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Washington and the new Iraqi interim government pledged on Sunday to reach agreement on control of major operations by US-led forces, opening the door to UN Security Council endorsement of plans for Iraq's future.

“There aren't any major issues left on the resolution. We are working out details,” US Secretary of State Colin Powell told CNN, suggesting days of wrangling at the Security Council were nearly over.

SNIP

But while there appeared to be progress in New York, Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani warned Iraq's unity could be at risk if the UN resolution did not endorse autonomy granted to Kurds under the present interim constitution.

`We're not bluffing'

“We are not bluffing here, we are serious — it's the right of our people,” Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, told Reuters in an interview.

The latest draft does not mention the interim constitution, which includes a clause that would allow Kurds to veto any attempt to encroach on their autonomy in the north.

But the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiite majority, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, objects to any Kurdish veto and says he will not back a UN resolution endorsing the constitution.

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[Gloria]

1. KICK for the info on the Kurds...................

eom