UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- U.N. diplomats gave a tepid response to U.S. proposals for Iraq, saying there was little evidence of change, a report said Thursday.
Diplomats said the new text offered the U.N. a strengthened role in Iraq but not the central role in overseeing the country's transition called for by countries such as France, Germany and Russia. Britain indicated it could co-sponsor the text, the Financial Times said.
Following conversations between Secretary of State Colin Powell and his counterparts in Spain, Germany and Britain, U.S. diplomats presented new wording Wednesday to the permanent five members of the Security Council, and later, Germany, at their mission to the United Nations.
U.N. sources said Iraq needed to raise $35 billion in reconstruction aid over four years, a figure that did not include security costs and rehabilitation of the oil sector.
Security Council members said they are unlikely to vote against the text, but it remains unclear how many might abstain.
