UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan suggests international meeting on Iraq, while U.N. Security Council extends mandate for the multinational force another 12 months

Record ID: 336229

  • Title: UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan suggests international meeting on Iraq, while U.N. Security Council extends mandate for the multinational force another 12 months
  • Date: 29th November 2006
  • Summary: (AM) UNITED NATIONS (FILE) (REUTERS) REPORTER WRITING IN NOTEPAD
  • Embargoed: 14th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA4M5A9BGCCUGDNYCOUH6ICP5L9
  • Story Text: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed on Tuesday (November 28) an international conference among Iraqi political parties and said again that Iraq's neighbours, Syria and Iran, needed to be engaged.
    Annan had a telephone conference with the 10-member, U.S. bipartisan Iraq Study Group on Monday, searching for a new policy in Iraq, and told reporters afterwards that Iraq was close to a civil war unless the situation could be reversed.
    "The security in Iraq today is a major constraint," Annan said in answer to reporters' questions. "If one were to work out an arrangement where one can get the Iraqi political parties together, somewhere outside Iraq as we did in Afghanistan, the United Nations can play the role it normally plays."
    In December 2001, the United Nations organized a conference in Bonn, Germany, that established a political process for Afghanistan after U.S. and allied Afghan forces removed from office the Taliban rulers for harbouring Osama bin Laden.
    But Annan also said that Iraqi leaders will have to understand that they need to "make compromises" to resolve their differences.
    At the same time he said the Iraqis could not do it alone, that the international community has to help them.
    Annan said he had not dealt with Syria and Iran on Iraq but only on Lebanon in the past months.
    But he said that both countries should be part of the solution. "And we should bring them in and get them to work with us in resolving the issue, and let them assume some of the responsibility. So I stand by that recommendation."
    The Iraq Study Group, led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former congressman Lee Hamilton, an Indiana Democrat, wants to complete its report before Congress adjourns next month. It is considering talks with Syria and Iran as well as a gradual troop withdrawal.
    Asked if the United Nations could fill a security vacuum in case of a U.S. withdrawal, Annan said such details were not discussed.
    U.S. ambassador John Bolton was asked what role he thought Iran could play in helping stabilize the situation in Iraq.
    "We've made it very clear we expect Iran to stop meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq, stop destabilizing the country, stop supporting militias, stop supporting terrorist groups in neighbouring countries. So there are a range of things they could do," said Bolton.
    The United Nations has kept a relatively small staff in Iraq since the bombing of its Baghdad headquarters in 2003, which killed 22 people, many of them top officials.
    But it has helped organized elections, the drawing up of a constitution and engaged in reconciliation talks. More recently the world body has released monthly deaths of Iraqis, gathered from ministries and morgues.
    Later in the day The U.N. Security Council unanimously renewed the mandate of the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq through the end of 2007, after the Baghdad government requested an extension.
    Bolton welcomed the vote a day ahead of planned talks in Jordan between U.S. President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on how to bring violence under control and whether Iran and Syria could help.
    The vote showed all countries in the region "that the Security Council remains strongly of the view that we need to see stability in Iraq and continued progress toward democracy," Bolton said. "We all share the same objective and I think that is something the neighbouring countries need to take into account."
    But Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he regretted the resolution made no mention of the need to heel the deep divisions in Iraqi society, as Moscow had suggested.
    "We must recognize that the situation in Iraq continues to be complex and signs of its improvement are not being seen. In spite of all of the efforts made by the government of Iraq and by the multi national force, growth of violence and terrorist activity continues," said Churkin.
    The vote on the U.S.-drafted resolution came two weeks after al-Maliki wrote the council to assure it that Baghdad's goal was eventually to assume responsibility for recruiting, training and arming its security forces, taking over these forces' command and control, and assuming responsibility for apprehending and detaining criminals.
    Earlier Security Council resolutions authorized the multinational force to arrest and detain prisoners in U.S. facilities including the infamous Abu Ghraib prison, even after the U.S.-led occupation ended on June 30, 2004.
    Without council renewal, the multinational force's current mandate would have expired at the end of 2006.
    ***THIS IS THE SAME STORY AS 18888/06****
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