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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/22/wirq222.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/09/22/ixnewstop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=140968 Chalabi seeks to take seat at UN By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 22/09/2003) Ahmad Chalabi, the head of Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council, hopes to score a diplomatic victory by taking over Iraq's seat at the United Nations. Aides said Mr Chalabi would not wait for formal recognition, instead attempting a fait accompli at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. He will be helped by the remaining Saddam Hussein envoys, who are still formally accredited at the UN, but have no voting rights because Iraq has not paid more than £8 million of subscriptions. "Nobody knows what Iraq's status is," said one Iraqi official. "The delegation will occupy its seat. If there are any objections, we will deal with them at the time." Mr Chalabi will hope that the Arab League's decision this month to admit the new Iraqi administration will ease his way at the UN. But Iraqi officials fear that the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez may object. Last week, Venezuelan officials said they would oppose the admission of the Governing Council to the Opec oil cartel, which is due to hold a meeting this week in Vienna. In the wrangling over a resolution setting out the post-Saddam rebuilding of Iraq, diplomats and officials at the UN say America and France have abruptly swapped roles in their attitude to the council. A UN source said: "The French would have said a short time ago that Chalabi was America's puppet. Now they want to empower him and it is the Americans who are saying 'Let's not rush things'." Mr Chalabi, emboldened by the French stance, has been urging America to give the council greater "sovereignty", including control of its own security forces. _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk