The French foreign minister, Michel Barnier, yesterday described Iraq as “a black hole” that is sucking in the Middle East and the world and called for the US-led coalition to hand genuine sovereignty to the new Iraqi transitional government on June 30. In negotiations in New York on a new United Nations resolution for Iraq, the French government is pressing for as many powers as possible to be handed to the caretaker government. The main sticking point is over the role of US-led forces after June 30. Although the US-led coalition authority, which is a political body made up mainly of US and British officials, will be wound up on June 30, the US-led force of 140,000 military will remain in place. Mr Barnier, who is to discuss the resolution today with other members of the security council, said in an interview with Le Monde: “We must get out of this black hole that is sucking up the Middle East and, beyond that, the world.” He added: “The spiral of horror – the blood, the inhumanity – that we see now on all fronts, in Falluja, like in Gaza, or through the terrible images of the assassination of this unfortunate American hostage. All of this gives the impression of a total loss of bearings.” Full Story
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