Torn for months over whether to recognize Iraq's US-appointed authority, the Arab League on yesterday granted the fledgling Governing Council the Iraqi seat on the 22-member pan-Arab body.
The decision is the league's first to officially recognize the council -- appointed July 13 after US forces deposed Saddam Hussein's regime -- as an authority able to represent Iraq on the regional stage.
Iraq's first post-Saddam government will play its first Arab League role later yesterday when Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Kurdish leader appointed Sept. 1 when the council's Cabinet was named, sits down alongside other Arab League envoys when a two-day foreign ministerial conference begins.
PHOTO: EPA
Following nearly six hours of closed door talks, Arab League foreign ministers issued a communique saying the Governing Council had been granted Iraq's seat until a legitimate Iraqi government is formed and a new Constitution drawn up.
"This decision was agreed upon unanimously," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters following the meeting.
By winning increased legitimacy, the Governing Council has helped bolster a Bush administration aim for going to war in Iraq -- needing to establish a moderate, representative Iraqi government to replace Saddam's bloody three decade-long rule.
Washington has said a new, democratically appointed government in Iraq could also act as a catalyst for reform throughout the Middle East, where most countries have been ruled for generations by royal families or regimes.
A US State Department spokeswoman said the US hadn't been officially notified of the development, but said it would be welcome. She said US officials will follow up with the Arab League yesterday on details of the step.
"That's good," James Cunningham, the deputy US ambassador to the UN, said of the vote. "That's a positive step."
China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya (
The Arab League, which opposed the US-led war in Iraq, had been reluctant to welcome the council into its fold, fearing any recognition of it would be seen as a sign of its support for America's invasion of an Arab state.
Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, arrived in Cairo on Monday determined to claim Iraq's seat and fully participate, on behalf of the council, in any Arab League meetings.
"This is our right. We are claiming our legitimate right to be here and to be represented," he told reporters before the decision. "Our message is: We're the representatives of de facto Iraqi authority."
Iraq's seat on the league's council of ministers has been empty since Saddam's ouster in April.
An emboldened Governing Council is expected to help another troublesome area for US foreign policy -- the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The council is expected to steer a more moderate route than Saddam -- an avowed enemy of Israel -- in reaching a Middle East peace settlement.
Meanwhile, at least another 1,200 British troops will be sent to Iraq in the coming weeks, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said Monday, boosting Britain's military presence in the country to 11,800.
Hoon last week ordered a review of the troop levels required to support British operations in Iraq amid persistent attacks against US and British occupation forces.
In a written statement to parliament Monday, Hoon said there was an "immediate requirement" for help from two battalions, plus additional specialist personnel and equipment, which would be deployed to Britain's area of operations in the south of the country, around Basra.
The announcement of Britain's troop injection came shortly after US President George W. Bush used a televised White House address late Sunday to urge the UN to overcome differences on Iraq.
Bush called for more troops and money to help stabilize the country as well as a multinational force to be led by the US.
Russia, France and Germany, which has a temporary seat on the Security Council, have signaled they would oppose US attempts to create a multilateral force in Iraq that ruled out an important role for the UN.
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