U.N. must be “main instrument” in resolving Iraq Crisis, says International Church Leaders

New York, USA – An international ecumenical delegation, including United Methodists, has urged the involvement of U.N. in Iraq and has met with U.N. Secretary–General Kofi Annan to discuss about the issue. It is reported that this move was taken pursuant to the human rights abuse that had taken place in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Early last week, following a 40–minute meeting between the religious leaders and Kofi Annan — the U.N. Security Council began discussing a new resolution defining the role of the United Nations in Iraq. A draft resolution introduced by the United States and Great Britain backed the proposal of U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi for transfer of power to a caretaker government on June 30, and endorsed a timetable for U.N.–planned elections for a national Iraqi assembly by the end of January, according to news report.
In a live televised address, subsequently, President Bush announced that the U.S. government has a five–point plan for Iraq that includes the June 30 transfer of power, elections as early as January and encouragement of more international support.
Organized by the National Council of Churches and led by the Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist pastor and the agency’s chief executive, the 11–member delegation strongly advocated for U.N. leadership in Iraq.
“We believe that it’s important for the religious community to weigh in at this time,” Edgar said during a press conference at the Church Center for the United Nations, following the meeting with Kofi Annan. Those who opposed the war in Iraq and those who supported the war need to come together and find “an alternate way out of the current situation,” he said.
Kofi Annan, who met a week earlier with the Rev. Sam Kobia of the World Council of Churches, has always been open to dialogue with religious leaders, Edgar observed. “I was pleased at how well we were received by the Secretary–General,” he added.
Jim Winkler, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, pointed to the need for the United Nations to establish its own plan for working with the transitional Iraqi government and to avoid just becoming a tool of the U.S. transition process.
“We urged him (Annan) to really make sure the United Nations has authority in this situation,” he told United Methodist News Service.
Bishop Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said the United Nations is clearly “the crucial link” for Iraq to move from occupation to self–governance.
Such opinions are not confined to U.S. church leaders. The Rev. Keith Clements, chief executive of the Conference of European Churches, pointed out that the European church community wants to see “a truly multilateral approach to this crisis” and considers the United Nations to be “the main instrument” in achieving that goal.
Other members of the delegation included the Rev. Karen Hamilton, chief executive, Canadian Council of Churches; Bishop Vicken Aykazian, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America; the Rev. Cliff Kirkpatrick, stated clerk, Presbyterian Church USA; the Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, ecumenical officer, Orthodox Church in America; the Rev. Michael Livingston, executive director, International Council of Community Churches; the Rev. Paul Renshaw, coordinating secretary of international affairs, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland; Tony Kireopoulos, NCC executive for international affairs and peace.
– by our International Correspondent