THE US/BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair has emphatically dismissed suggestions of a split with the United States over the sovereign authority to be exercised by the new interim Iraqi government.
And his official spokesman told The Irish Times last night that the position of British troops following the June 30th handover would be the same as that of the US forces as defined by the US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell.
Newspapers yesterday had Mr Blair variously being "snubbed" by Mr Powell or "at odds" with President Bush, following the prime minister's assertion on Tuesday that the new interim government would have "the final political control" and a power of veto over sensitive military operations by coalition forces.
However, in the Commons yesterday, Mr Blair said he was "sorry to have to disappoint" Labour MP Ms Anne Campbell, after she pronounced herself "pleased to see there are policy differences between you and President Bush on the subject of Iraq". She urged Mr Blair to tell President George Bush, "it is important that the interim government in Iraq has as high a status as possible" and that this was "much less likely if the multinational force remains under US command".
Speaking of himself and President Bush, Mr Blair replied he was "sorry to have to disappoint so early", but: "I have to say that we are both absolutely agreed that there should be full sovereignty transferred to the Iraqi people and the multinational force should remain under American command. That is natural since they have the vast bulk of the soldiers."
Mr Blair emphasised that the ultimate "strategic and decision-making process" would pass to the interim government, while Downing Street explained that once strategic decisions had been taken, the conduct of military operations would be a matter for local commanders on the ground, with US commanders in charge of US troops and British commanders in charge of UK troops.
The prime minister's official spokesman said: "If you are at the wrong end of an RPG, at present you don't have to phone up a committee to ask permission on how to respond. After June 30th, whether you are British, American, Iraqi, Dutch or any other nationality, the same will be true. Operational control will remain at the level of local decision-making."
In Washington on Tuesday night, Mr Powell said that the views of Iraq's interim rulers would be "taken into account" and that coordinating bodies would be established to ensure "transparency with respect to what we are doing".
At the same time, he indicated, this would not amount to a veto, saying: "If it comes down to the United States armed forces protecting themselves or in some way accomplishing their mission in a way that might not be in total consonance with what the Iraqi government might want to do at a particular moment, US forces remain under US command and will do what is necessary to protect themselves."
Asked last night if this held equally for British forces in Iraq, Mr Blair's spokesman replied: "Of course."
In the Commons, Conservative leader Mr Michael Howard said that "while operational control of our troops in Iraq must remain with British commanders, final political control over their deployment will be a matter for the Iraqi government."
This he said was "entirely consistent with the need for the transfer of sovereignty on June 30 to be real and not cosmetic."