Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov yesterday called for the UN Security Council to pass a new resolution on Iraq that would lead to international recognition of the US-appointed Governing Council as a provisional Iraqi government.

　　Ivanov said the new resolution must also make clear the process for establishing the future, legitimate Iraqi government under a UN agreed timeframe.

　　"Within the framework of this process, it would be possible to recognize the interim Governing Council of Iraq as an interim organ of authority which, jointly with the United Nations, should guarantee the adoption of a new constitution and democratic elections under an agreed timeframe," Ivanov said in a statement posted on the ministry's Website.

　　"The sooner that the UN Security Council adopts such a resolution, the more chances the international community will have to render help to the Iraqi people in overcoming the current serious crisis," Ivanov said.

　　Washington has pressed for a strong Security Council statement welcoming the establishment of the US-appointed 24-member Governing Council. The Council is broadly representative of the key constituencies in Iraq - Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds - and was created as a transition to a more permanent government.

　　US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, who yesterday discussed the situation in the Middle East and Iraq with top Russian diplomats in Moscow, said Moscow and Washington "both have an interest ... in supporting the Governing Council which is a very important step forward and in trying to build on the very real political process that has begun."

　　Burns wouldn't comment on Ivanov's call for a new UN resolution on Iraq, but said that he and his Russian interlocutors had discussed how to work together in the Security Council to help provide "the strongest possible international support for the Governing Council" and find "ways in which we can continue to move forward in the process of Iraqi reconstruction."

　　More than four months after the divided Security Council refused to back the war in Iraq, the US-led occupation and the UN's postwar role remain sensitive issues.

　　Many nations want a broader UN mandate in Iraq before they commit troops.