Muslim Nations Want Pivotal Role for UN in Iraq

"There was a debate on putting a specific time for the U.S. to withdraw," Yonatri Rilman, an Indonesian delegate, told Reuters.

"But it was not accepted. The Iraq officials themselves preferred an uncertain time."

A draft resolution formulated by the foreign ministers to be given to leaders at the OIC summit on Thursday only called on the U.N. Security Council to seek a timetable for the "withdrawal of the occupying power from Iraq as soon as possible."

The draft, seen by Reuters, also said the Security Council should ensure the establishment of a constitution accepted by the Iraqi people in addition to forming a representative government elected by the Iraqi people.

And crucially, it said the United Nations should play a central role in Iraq, covering all aspects of politics, security and economics.

The Malaysian hosts were adamant that the United Nations should take charge, while welcoming signs that Washington would pass more authority to the Iraqi Provisional Governing Council in mid-December.

"The U.N. should be the one that supervises, undertakes the whole exercise and it would be easier for it to have international legitimacy," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters.