US efforts to lure more foreign troops to Iraq to fail: Annan

Secretary of State Colin Powell came to the United Nations on Thursday to launch the campaign, calling on member states "to do more" to help Iraq. But he made clear that Washington won't cede any military power as France and other nations have demanded.

Without US agreement on a broader international role in Iraq, diplomats said the United States faces an uphill struggle to win support for a new UN resolution in a Security Council still bitterly divided over Washington's decision to launch a war without UN approval.

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But following this week's deadly bombing of the UN compound in Baghdad, which killed over 20 people and injured at least 100, Annan said there was an urgent need to strengthen UN security in Iraq and around the world "that none of us can ignore."

Among those who died in the attack was top UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. Annan notified council members Friday that he had appointed the UN humanitarian chief in Iraq, Ramiro Lopes da Silva of Portugal, as acting head of the UN mission, council diplomats said.

The secretary-general said he discussed prospects for a multinational force that would be responsible, among other things, for UN security with Powell on Thursday, and with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Friday.

Talks with both ministers also focused on internationalizing the US-British occupation in Iraq, including in the economic, political, and security areas - a proposal supported by the majority of the 191 UN member states, Annan said.

Annan reiterated the United Nations could not send a peacekeeping force to Iraq "but it is not excluded that the council may decide to transform the operation into a UN-mandated multinational force operating on the ground with other governments coming in."

AFP adds: US President George W. Bush predicted Friday that more nations will send troops to help win the "continuing battle" in Iraq, but kept mum on some countries' push for expanded UN authority there.

"Iraq is turning out to be a continuing battle in the war on terror," he said during a brief public appearance here. "We do need and welcome more foreign troops into Iraq, and there will be more foreign troops into Iraq."

Bush repeatedly referred to a "vital role" for the United Nations, but sidestepped a question on whether Washington would accommodate potential contributors seeking greater authority for the world body in Iraq.

"I've always said the United Nations ought to have vital role," he said. "There will be a vital role for the UN. As a matter of fact, we're discussing a resolution now about how to encourage other nations to participate."