In a major policy shift, US President George W. Bush on Friday signaled support for a UN plan, which called for an interim government to take over power in Iraq on June 30.

"This week we have seen the outlines of a new Iraqi government that will take the keys of sovereignty. We welcome the proposals presented by the UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi," Bush said at a White House press conference with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Bush said Brahimi "has identified a way forward to establishing an interim government that is broadly acceptable to the Iraqi people."

"Our coalition partners will continue to work with the United Nations to prepare for nationwide elections that will choose a new government in January of 2005. We thank the United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan for helping Iraqis secure a future of freedom. We are grateful that Mr. Brahimi will soon return to Iraq to continue his important work," Bush said.

Bush was echoed by Blair, the closest US ally that has supported and contributed many troops to the Iraq war. "The United Nations will have a central role, as now, in developing the program and machinery for political transition to full Iraqi democracy. And we will seek a new UN Security Council resolution to embody the political and security way forward," Blair said.

Observers believe that with escalating violence and rising US-led coalition casualties in Iraq, the United States needs more than ever UN help for a peaceful and smooth sovereignty transition in Iraq with less than three months before the June 30 deadline.

At a press conference in Baghdad on Wednesday, Brahimi proposed that the US-appointed Governing Council cease to exist on June 30 and the United States hand over sovereignty to a caretaker government of respected Iraqis. Brahimi has played a key role in helping form an interim Afghan government.

According to the proposal, the new government, led by a prime minister, a president and two vice presidents, would be chosen by the UN, the current Interim Governing Council, the coalition and as elected group of Iraqi judges, and would last until the election on January 31, 2005.

This would give Washington a way to dissolve the fractious and unpopular 25-member Interim Governing Council handpicked by the United States.

Observers indicated that in order to make progress on the political front in Iraq, Washington has to listen to the UN by abandoning its earlier idea of expanding the Interim Governing Council to include political parties and groups not represented now.

Just over one year ago, the United States demanded the UN to prove itself "relevant" and marginalized the world body by launching the Iraq war without a UN authorization.

However, without the backing of the "irrelevant" UN, the United States has found it hard to maintain order in Iraq, let alone a smooth transition.

Observers believe that the UN will surely play a more important role in Iraq after both the United States and Britain called for an increased UN presence in Iraq.

The United States and Britain are also getting the UN to issue a new resolution on Iraq, hoping it may persuade more countries to send troops to Iraq and ease the US and British burden in the crisis-stricken country.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2004)