BRITAIN/US: Britain and the US will seek a fresh UN resolution mandating the continuing military presence in Iraq following the proposed transfer of power to a transitional government in June.
In return, they are expected to propose a lead role for the UN in helping the interim government prepare for elections and create a judicial and legal framework enshrining individual freedoms.
This was confirmed last night as part of a renewed effort to shore-up support for the military alliance just a week after Spain's incoming Socialist Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, threatened to withdraw his country's troops from Iraq unless the coalition secured greater international legitimacy.
The confirmation came as anti-war protesters drew smaller than expected numbers onto London's streets to mark the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, but while heated political debate continued as to whether the war had left Britain more vulnerable to terrorist attack.
News of the plan to re-engage the UN Security Council also coincided with fresh moves to commit Labour to a policy requiring all international conflict to be dealt with "within a UN framework".
The organisers of Saturday's anti-war march on Trafalgar Square disputed police assessments about its size - claiming four times as many as the 25,000 police estimate. But if this was disappointing given last year's million-strong protest, the protesters were no less fervent in their hostility to Prime Minister Blair's alliance with President Bush. Protesters held aloft placards condemning "Bliar" as London Mayor Ken Livingstone - recently readmitted to the Labour Party, and Mr Blair's candidate for re-election in June - told the rally: "Everything we have learnt since the war has told us it was totally unjustified."
Yesterday Mr Robin Cook - who quit Mr Blair's cabinet in opposition to the war - returned to the attack, claiming the military conflict there had "given a boost to international terrorism".
Speaking on Sky's Sunday with Adam Boulton programme, Mr Cook said: "If you look at what's happened in the world in the year since, you cannot say that this actually prevented terrorism from taking place or diminished the terrorism threat."
However, Mr Blair's desire to bring closure to Labour's internal debate and his enthusiasm for UN "cover" for future developments in Iraq were revealed when senior Whitehall sources confirmed yesterday's report in the Observer newspaper that "a sustained push for a fresh UN resolution" is being planned.
The report quoted "UK officials" as being confident the Security Council will approve a resolution "mandating" the continuing allied military presence in Iraq while allowing the UN "a role in overseeing Iraq's first democratic elections and the judicial and legal framework which the new government will rely on to protect individual freedoms."