Security Council renews mandate of UN mission in Iraq

UNITED NATIONS (AFP), Suara Indonesia News - The UN Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to renew for one year the mandate of the UN mission for Iraq.

It adopted Resolution 1830, sponsored by Britain, Italy and the United States, which also called on the Iraqi government and other member states to continue to provide security and logistical support to the UN mission in Iraq.

The 15-member body extended the mandate of the 767-strong UN mission (UNAMI) for 12 months from Thursday and expressed its intention to review the mandate "in 12 months or sooner, if requested by the government of Iraq."

"This is a good day for Iraq," said Belgium's UN Ambassador Jan Grauls, who chairs the council this month. "This shows the support of the international community for what they are doing."

As the world body prepares to commemorate the August 19, 2003 truck bomb attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, which killed 22 people, including special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, Iraq's UN envoy Hamid al-Bayati pledged that his government would do its utmost to help provide security for UN staffers.

"The Iraqi government is willing to protect the UN (and) has expressed readiness to contribute financially to the building of the new UN headquarters (in Baghdad)," he added.

He also urged the world body to beef up its presence across his country and to provide assistance to the Baghdad government in the areas of provincial elections, demarcating internal borders between provinces, constitutional review and national reconciliation.

"We hope they (the UN) will (re-) open their offices in different parts of Iraq," Bayati said.

"The renewal of the UN mandate in Iraq is positive, we welcome it," US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters. "The report that was the basis for the renewal of the mandate recognizes important progress that has been made in Iraq, particularly in the realm of security."