WASHINGTON — Culminating a reversal of policy toward the United Nations, President Bush officially embraced a plan Friday that would give the world body a more prominent role -- perhaps even the central role -- in guiding Iraq's postwar political transition.
After the U.N. Security Council refused to authorize use of force in Iraq early last year, the Bush administration resisted any significant involvement by the United Nations in postwar Iraq.
But as violence has surged in recent weeks and a June 30 deadline for transferring sovereignty nears, the president has gradually given in to arguments that only the United Nations could bestow legitimacy on an interim government.
Bush endorsed a plan under which U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi would appoint an interim body to succeed the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and oversee national elections in 2005.
"This week we've seen the outlines of a new Iraqi government that will take the keys of sovereignty," Bush said in a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "We welcome the proposals presented by the U.N. special envoy Brahimi. He's identified a way forward to establishing an interim government that is broadly acceptable to the Iraqi people."
Blair, for his part, said, "The U.N. will have a central role ... in developing the program and machinery for political transition to full Iraqi democracy.
"And we will seek a new U.N. Security Council resolution to embody the political and security way forward."
Both leaders acknowledged that, so far, Brahimi has described his plan in outline only, and that many details remain to be decided, including the kind of presence the United Nations would have in Iraq.
Security is a paramount concern for U.N. officials, who pulled out of Iraq last August after the bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad killed 22 U.N. employees.
On Friday, as skirmishes continued between U.S. forces and insurgents in the hot spots of Fallouja and Najaf and a video was released of a captive U.S. soldier, Blair and Bush sought to send a strong message of resolve. They said the United States and Britain would not change course in Iraq despite a surge in attacks on U.S.-led coalition troops and on foreign civilians.
"We will not waver in the face of fear and intimidation," Bush said.
The two leaders also insisted that the June 30 date for transfer of sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government was sacrosanct.
