The international community hopes for a quick return of sovereignty to the Iraqi people, and a new United Nations resolution is needed to expand the UN role in rebuilding Iraq, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said at UN special talks on Iraq in Geneva Saturday.

It is a shared hope of the international community, and is also in the interests of relevant parties, to restore sovereignty and stability to Iraq in the quickest way possible and speed up its reconstruction, Li told a special meeting on Iraq attended by foreign ministers of five permanent members of the UN Security Council and chaired by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Under current circumstances, the UN Security Council needs to pass a new resolution on Iraq to expand the UN role in rebuilding the country and create conditions for broader support for its reconstruction, Li said.

Such efforts would help Iraqis live in peace and develop their economy and were also conducive to peace and development in the Gulf area and the Middle East region, he added.

The Chinese foreign minister said the five permanent UN Security Council members shoulder important responsibilities for world peace and security and should look forward and cooperate with each other in dealing with current issues.

The special meeting was convened mainly to discuss a US-proposed draft resolution on Iraq.

"They (the foreign ministers) will contribute to building consensus toward the future of Iraq, including the definition of the UN role," Annan told reporters after talks with foreign ministers from China, Russia, the United States, Britain and France.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Annan said the five foreign ministers stressed the importance of the Israelis and the Palestinians continuing the implementation of the roadmap peace plan.

"The ministers recognize that both sides have obligations under the plan," Annan said.

The UN chief said the so-called Mideast quartet -- the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- had agreed to hold an ambassadors' meeting later this month in New York to seek ways to move forward the peace plan. 
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2003)