France called a U.S. proposal for Iraqis to adopt a constitution in six months "a step forward" but still wants the United States to transfer power to an Iraqi government by the end of the year, a demand that is unacceptable to the Bush administration.

As U.S. officials put the finishing touches on a revised U.N. resolution that President Bush hopes will bring more troops and money into Iraq, it was clear that serious differences remain on a timeline for restoring Iraq's sovereignty.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told Europe-1 radio on Sunday that he expects the United States to circulate the new resolution on Tuesday. President Jacques Chirac has said France will not veto it — but de Villepin said France's support will be contingent on whether it provides for "a change in the reality on the ground."

"There's a spiral of violence and terror and everything must be done to stop it," de Villepin said. "The solution lies in a transfer of sovereignty. ... That could take place in a short time — between now and the end of the year."

France, Germany and Russia — who opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq — have been pressing for the U.S.-led coalition to quickly hand over power to a provisional Iraqi government to help stabilize the country and for a larger U.N. role in the political transition.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, after talks with Bush at his Camp David retreat, didn't mask their differences over the timetable at a joint news conference on Saturday. He called for the transition to Iraqi self-rule "as soon as possible," but pleased Bush by acknowledging that Iraqis need time to build democratic institutions and saying the process "should go ahead stage by stage."

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder stressed that it wasn't a dispute over principle — but over details. "I would very much be in favor of moving towards one another, but obviously it would have to come from both ends," he said last week on "The Charlie Rose Show."

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday the United States has agreed to give the United Nations a bigger role in the elections and political transformation of Iraq as France and others have demanded.

The United States has also shown movement on the timeline and on agreeing to international requests to turn the U.S.-led coalition force into a U.N.-authorized multinational force under U.S. command, the official said.

Britain and Spain, which supported the war, were quick to welcome the timeline. France's de Villepin said Sunday that "Colin Powell has taken a step forward because he's proposed a constitution within six months." Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa of Syria, a Security Council member that opposed the war, told Lebanon's Al Hayat-LBC television station: "I think this is the first public sentence I hear which demonstrates American goodwill with regards to the U.S. presence in Iraq."

But Security Council diplomats still predict difficult negotiations once the resolution is introduced.

The Security Council was to meet behind closed doors Monday to discuss another Iraq-related problem.

The U.N. oil-for-food program, which has provided food for 90 percent of Iraq's population, is to be phased out by Nov. 22.

But there are serious concerns that it won't be possible to wrap up its operations by that date because the United Nations has ordered about 90 percent of its international staff out of Iraq due to security concerns, including two bombings at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad in a month.

The oil-for-food program is financed by oil sales. Under a previous U.N. resolution, oil revenue is to be deposited in a new Development Fund for Iraq, which will be controlled by the United States and Britain and used to rebuild the country.

(China Daily September 29, 2003)