Bush and Blair to meet in Belfast to debate UN role in postwar Iraq

Moscow (Reuters): U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were to meet in Northern Ireland on Monday (early Tuesday Jakarta time) in an effort to bridge differences over postwar Iraq as their troops make further big gains on the ground.

Amid tight security in the British-ruled province — the two allies' third war council in a month — Blair was expected to try to persuade a reluctant Bush to back a leading role for the United Nations after the conflict.

As Bush traveled to the summit, British officials sought to gloss over differences, stressing that London and Washington agreed Iraq should eventually be ruled by and for the Iraqis.

But. comments on both sides of the Atlant;c indicate that the debate over Iraq's immedi ate future could be as heated as the futile effort to win a second UN resolution on the war.

"It is absolutely clear we want to see UN authority for the operations there in exactly the way we did in operations in Afghanistan," British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon told a news briefing on Monday.

U.S. officials have ruled out a key political role for the UN, saying Washington and its allies earned the right to call the shots by giving "life and blood.''They oppose the idea of the UN supervising and running an interim government in Iraq as in places like Kosovo. East Timor and Afghanistan.

"Its not a model we want to follow, of a sort of permanent international administration." Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said on Sunday.

Wolfowitz said the objective was to move as quickly as possible to a government run by Iraqis, although he said it could take more than six months to install an interim authority — a delay that could irk European leaders.

Blair needs to ensure significant UN involvement to placate key European allies like France and Germany who oppose war, and to appease many Britons who are skeptical of U.S. motives in seeking to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Bush's trip to Northern Ireland is being widely seen as a payback for Blair's support over Iraq and could help the British leader regain some lost popularity at home.

The venue — Hillsborough Castle south of Belfast — is also designed to give Blair's efforts to resuscitate Northern Ireland's flagging peace process a symbolic U.S. boost.

Bush will meet Irish Republic Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and hold brief talks with Northern Ireland leaders before returning to Washington on Tuesday afternoon.

The two leaders will also tackle the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in an effort to mollify Arab anger over the war in Iraq. Blair has been pressing for the release of the Middle East peace plan known as the "road map" which would pave the way for a Palestinian state.

In the meantime, Bush's top national security aide met Russian officials on Monday in a lightning visit to Moscow to try to repair relations badly shaken by the war on Iraq.

With Moscow smarting over an armed attack on a Russian diplomatic convoy in Iraq — so far unexplained — U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice held talks with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and other senior officials.