IRAQ - Only US Can Impose Martial Law.

Jacinta Caroll, director of defence policy for the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) last week warned Iraq's interim government not to carry out its threat of declaring martial law, insisting that only the American-led coalition had the right to adopt emergency powers after the June 30 handover of sovereignty. She said Iraq's authorities were bound by human rights clauses in the interim constitution, known as the Transitional Administrative Law, prohibiting administrative detention.

Ms Caroll said the recent UN Security Council Resolution 1546 sanctions the use by foreign forces in Iraq of "all necessary measures" to provide security. She added: "Under the UN resolution, the multinational force (MNF) will have the power to take all actions traditionally associated with martial law". He raised CPA's "legal objections" with Premier Allawi. Then Allawi on June 22 to backed away from remarks made on June 20 that the government would assume emergency powers after the handover, saying: "No, I didn't specifically say martial law meaning martial law". He said the government was developing a "public safety law" which would allow it to implement curfews, searches, and "apprehend the enemies of Iraq".

The CPA warning highlighted growing tension between the US-led MNF and Iraq's appointed government over how to handle counter-insurgency after the handover. US advisers are concerned about the security powers sought by Allawi and are struggling to check the ambitions of his ministers to rebuild and re-arm Iraq's forces. Caroll said: "Iraq will have a lightly-armed standing army and no heavy field artillery". If tanks and attack aircraft were needed, Iraq would have to rely on US-led forces, she said.

Frustrated Iraqi officials say reliance on US-led forces will undermine public confidence in the restoration of sovereignty and re-ignite claims that they are lackeys of the occupying forces. To curb Iraqi access to heavy weapons, the occupation authorities have signed a $259m contract with US company Anham Joint Venture to be sole supplier of arms to Iraq's armed forces for the next two years. Alarmed that the deal could leave Iraq's forces outgunned by an enemy with mortars and rockets, Allawi vowed to refurbish the old Iraq army's arsenal, and appealed to neighbouring states to provide military hardware. All but 20% of the defence ministry's 2004 $1.5 bn budget stems from US funds, say coalition officials, and Iraq's share is earmarked for the payment of salaries, not equipment. In addition, the coalition has impounded Iraq's remaining heavy weapons and is hampering the issue of end-user certificates for fresh supplies. An American defence adviser in Baghdad said Iraq remained under "a partial UN weapons embargo".

The NATO summit in Istanbul this week was due to discuss Iraq, among other issues. Currently NATO is supporting a Polish-led division in Iraq, and many North Atlantic allies have troops on the ground in a national capacity. NATO's Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in an article published on June 22 by the IHT that "the entire international community has a profound interest in ensuring that the new Iraq finds it feet". He added: The price of failure is simply too high". In Istanbul, he said, "I am confident that we will also open up, for the first time, a security dialogue with the broader region of the Middle East. This dialogue must be, and will be, a two-way street. Such a bridge of open consultation will only be strong if it is built and maintained by all the participants together".