The reality is that the goals are the same for everybody and the means vary but I don’t think we will

“The reality is that the goals are the same for everybody and the means vary, but I don’t think we will be locking horns for the sake of locking horns,” said Jean Chr?en, the Canadian Prime Minister, who was a strong critic of the war. He said all nations shared the goal of transferring power to the Iraqi people at some stage.The US is hoping in particular that the passage of a new resolution will encourage troop contributions from Pakistan and India. Megawati Sukarnoputri, the Indonesian President, said the war in Iraq created “more problems than those it intended to solve”.At the same time, few appeared in the mood to frustrate Washington’s push for a new resolution. France wants a quicker handover of power in Iraq than is envisaged by Washington, but has signalled that it will not use its veto to block the resolution.Residual anger was voiced by numerous world leaders in New York that America had jeopardised the system of multilateral security by invading Iraq against the wishes of many nations. While Mr Bush conceded that the UN should help with writing a constitution and organising elections, most members want the UN to become the main proprietor of Iraq in its transition, and an end to the perception of the US as a colonial power.”Only the United Nations can guarantee the legitimacy that is needed to enable the Iraqi population to rapidly rebuild their country under an independent, representative government,” Mr Schr? said.In a series of meetings with other world leaders in New York, Mr Bush has been trying to build support for a new UN resolution that aims to establish a multilateral force in Iraq with Security Council approval, and thus draw more nations into contributing to the reconstruction effort. We would like to come in and help with the resources that we do have. We very much envisage that we will assist and supply training for the security forces and police functions, or be it some form of military function.”But in his address to the Assembly – the first by a German chancellor since Willy Brandt 30 years ago – Mr Schr? appealed for a strengthened role in Iraq for the UN.

Mr Bush said: “The first thing I told him, I said: ‘Look, we had differences, and they’re over. We’re going to work together’.”An appeal to the General Assembly by Mr Bush on Tuesday for assistance from other nations in rebuilding Iraq drew a chilly response. This week Pakistan declined the sheep, despite being offered them free, after a similar rejection by the United Arab Emirates.Mr Truss said that the government had arranged for a vet from an international organisation to inspect the sheep. He said if the vet confirmed Australia’s claim that the animals were virtually free of scabby-mouth disease, it would speed negotiations to offload them.Slaughter of the sheep at sea would involve huge problems, including how to dispose of the corpses. Stun guns would have to be supplied, with trained slaughtermen, in proper conditions. Such equipment and conditions are not readily available in the Gulf.Most of Australia’s livestock shipments go to Islamic countries that require live animals for halal meat. That decrees an animal must not be stunned before its throat is cut..

Mr Truss said finding a land base for the sheep to be unloaded was “by a long, long way the best priority”. He added: “They’re on a Dutch ship with a Philippines flag and they’re thousands of kilometres outside of Australia’s territorial waters.”New Zealand has halted plans to send 65,000 sheep to Saudi Arabia, its largest shipment of livestock for eight years, until the meat importer provides an alternative plan in case the sheep are rejected.Animal rights activists denounce Australia’s live export trade as inhumane because livestock are transported for weeks in ships often crowded and hot. it’s basically a stand-off,” Mark Pearson of Animal Liberation said. “We don’t want the Al Kuwait to be another death ship.”Warren Truss, the country’s Agriculture Minister, warned yesterday that the saga could spell disaster for its livestock trade, worth A$195m (£80m) a year. But he stressed that the sheep were “actually owned by a Saudi importing company”.

But an international clamour is growing, which may force the hand of the Australian government to put the sheep out of their misery.Originally bound for Saudi Arabia, the sheep were refused entry after a Saudi vet found an unacceptably high number were infected with so-called scabby-mouth disease. In countries where animals are sent for ritual halal slaughter there are strict requirements governing their appearance.The crisis threatens to damage Australia’s most important livestock export market, which last year took 1.2 million sheep worth £50m. The country, which has “ridden the sheep’s back” to economic prosperity, finds itself in an increasingly tricky situation.Protests began in Australia and New Zealand yesterday against the alleged cruelty of the livestock trade to the Gulf. The sheep have been on a ship in the Gulf for three weeks, at sea for 51 days, and 4, 000 have already died from heat stress. Despite the certain slaughter that awaits the 57,000 aboard the Cormo Express, for the most part theirs is a silent journey.
Only at feeding time do they bleat when the pellets clatter down chutes from the upper decks towards them.