UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations says the Security Council will vote Thursday on the U.S.-backed draft resolution on Iraq.
John Negroponte, speaking to reporters after closed door meetings Wednesday night, said, "I think I can safely say we see positive movement towards greater consensus within the council on the basis of the U.S. text that we put forward and we look forward to tomorrow's vote."
A vote had been hoped for Wednesday night, but that plan was rejected by Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov, who said he could not vote on the measure until the presidents of France, Germany and Russia held an early Thursday morning teleconference.
The resolution, which faced as many as four abstentions earlier Wednesday, was expected to garner as many as 14 positive votes.
The draft measure endorses the U.S.-led coalition, allows creation of a multi-national force and controls progressively handed to the Iraqis "as soon as practicable."
It also "strengthens the vital role" of the United Nations, without giving it a central role and calls for the Governing Council of Iraq to provide the Security Council by Dec. 15 with a "timetable and program for the drafting of a new constitution for Iraq and for the holding of democratic elections under that constitution."
