United Nations Considers New Resolutions on Iraq, Libya
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a busy day at the United Nations here in New York with two countries taking center stage -- namely Iraq and Libya. Our Richard Roth is live at U.N. headquarters over on the east side of Manhattan. Let's go through Iraq first. Richard -- tell us what's going on, on that front.</s>RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's likely, Wolf, in a few hours, if not a few minutes, that the U.N. Security Council will adopt a new resolution on Iraq. Before everybody starts jumping, this one is not going to turn over the Iraq operation to the U.N. and its members. It's a more simpler, more focused resolution, as the U.S. ambassador has said, and it will welcome the new appointed Governing Council there, the U.S. appointed Governing Council inside Iraq. Syria, though, may be the only country that will object. It will do so by abstaining.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We find the Iraqi people they are the only authority, the only source to talk about the legality of the Governing Council.</s>ROTH: However, what about the U.S. and the U.N. on Iraq in the future? Well, "The New York Times" today is saying the U.S. was going to abandon plans to more heavily involve the United Nations. However, a State Department official telling CNN that nothing has been removed yet from the table. All kinds of ideas are still being considered. Countries such as India have refused to contribute troops to any new security operation as long as the U.N. is not the guarantor, the mandate, the approval of all of the these going forward Iraq operations. Moving on to Libya, Wolf, here at the Security Council, the United Nations is awaiting a letter from the Libyan government, which would accept, for the first time, responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. There have been four years of negotiations involving the U.S., the U.K. and Libya, which wants to get back in the good graces of the international community. First, last evening, it was believed that families -- lawyers for the families of those who were killed on the flight worked out a compensation agreement -- $2.7 billion. However, Libya still must accept responsibility, and then eventually sanctions on Libya would be lifted. However, family members, including Bert Ammerman, say that this money is not going to bring back their loved ones.</s>BERT AMMERMAN, VICTIM'S BROTHER: I don't think there is ever an amount of money that can bring back your loved ones being blown out of the air at 31,000 feet. And some people might argue that $2.7 billion from an oil-rich country is not enough. But I believe it does symbolically start the process that if you're a country that supports state-sponsored terrorism that you can you pay an economic price for your senseless actions.</s>ROTH: Now, this letter may come tomorrow from the Libyan government, or it may not. Nothing is easy, Wolf, here at the United Nations -- 191 countries and certainly those big five powers. CNN at the State Department reporting that an administration official is saying that France is the reason that this letter from the Libyan government has not arrived yet. The French government is now concerned and upset that the families of those who were killed on another plane, a UTA plane in 1989, are not going to receive as much money as those who were killed in Lockerbie -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: A very thorough report from our Richard Roth, as usual. Thanks, Richard. We'll follow both these Iraqi and Libyan developments throughout the day here on CNN. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.