Bush promises 'full sovereignty' for Iraq

Bush said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who opposed the US-led March 2003 invasion, had agreed by telephone to work together to refine a new UN Security Council resolution meant to ease the handover of power in Iraq.

In a joint appearance with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who sent some 500 soldiers to help US efforts in Iraq, Bush made clear that his guest had pushed for giving the interim Iraqi government full powers.

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"I told the prime minister that our government and our coalition will transfer full sovereignty, complete and full sovereignty to an Iraqi government" picked by special UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the president said.

"He said, 'Do you mean full sovereignty?' I said, 'I mean full sovereignty,'" Bush added as the two leaders made brief remarks in the White House Rose Garden.

The president said the United States was "making progress" on the new UN resolution, amid concerns from war opponents China, France, Germany and Russia about how it will define the role of nearly 140,000 US soldiers in Iraq.

"I spoke to Vladimir Putin this morning about the resolution, and we agreed to work together on behalf of the Iraqi people and the new government," Bush said.

Putin had warned earlier in Moscow that "this resolution can work only if it allows the Iraqi people to take fate into their own hands, creating a mechanism for the creation of a real sovereign state."

"I told him that we would come up with an arrangement that would enable us to help the Iraqi people secure their country, so that their country can move toward election," Bush said.

Meanwhile, the United States said late Friday a future Iraqi interim government will have a say in military operations conducted by US troops in Iraq, arguing the two sides will be guided in their actions by a "partnership."

"It's going to be a security partnership between multi-national force which will be under US command but under UN authorisation," Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said, appearing on PBS's "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer" programme.