US pushes for extension of UN mandate in Iraq

Overcoming resistance from France and Russia for a six-month extension, the US said extending the mandate for a year would spare a new Iraqi government -- to be elected under the new constitution on December 15 -- the burden of having to approve the continued presence of foreign troops on their soil, US diplomats told the daily.

Washington also hopes the extension would encourage US coalition partners to remain in Iraq and avoid a potentially tough battle in the Security Council on the mandate issue next year after the Iraqi government takes power.

The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, told The Washington Post by telephone on Monday that the US sought to extend the mandate "far in advance of the Iraqi election" so "it didn't become an issue in the election."

"We thought it was also important to show the continuing international commitment to progress in Iraq," Bolton added.

"We expect this to be voted tomorrow (Tuesday). I don't know anybody who is going to vote against it," he added referring to the resolution, co-sponsored by the US, Britain, Denmark, Romania and Japan.

In a concession to French and Russian objections, the US agreed that the council would review the mandate on June 15 of next year.

On May 31 the Security Council granted Iraq's request to keep the multinational force in Iraq "until the end of the political process."

Meanwhile, Britain and the United States remain united in their joint struggle to stamp out terrorism and to bring democracy to Iraq, Britain's visiting Defence Secretary John Reid said Monday.

"We should have no illusion as to the severity of the struggle we face against international terror. It will be long, it will wide and it will be deep," Reid, on his first official trip to the United States as defence secretary, told a panel discussion at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.