Friday, August 10, 2007
U.N. to expand political role in Iraq
U.N.
(Reuters) - The United Nations will see its role in Iraq expanded to include seeking reconciliation between warring factions and dialogue with neighboring countries under a Security Council resolution planned for Friday. A new mandate for the 4-year-old U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, or UNAMI, will add to its past functions of helping with elections and monitoring human rights and require a boost to its modest staffing in Baghdad.
The resolution was drafted by the United States and Britain, which invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein. Despite deep divisions in the Security Council at the time over the invasion, the new measure is set to pass unopposed. Washington's U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said this week the United Nations was uniquely placed to smooth over conflicts between Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds that have bedeviled Iraqi politics and fueled rampant violence.
Some major Iraqi players, such as top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, were willing to talk to the United Nations but not the United States or Britain, said Khalilzad, formerly U.S. envoy to Baghdad. By coincidence the new mandate will come amid a fresh political crisis in Iraq, with nearly half the cabinet having quit, or boycotting meetings.
There are currently only some 50 UNAMI international staff in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic complex, and a ceiling of 65. Security improvements are due to raise that ceiling to 95, U.N. officials say. U.S. and British officials have denied that their aim is to offload Iraq's political problems onto the United Nations, then pull their forces out.
The resolution was drafted by the United States and Britain, which invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein. Despite deep divisions in the Security Council at the time over the invasion, the new measure is set to pass unopposed. Washington's U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said this week the United Nations was uniquely placed to smooth over conflicts between Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds that have bedeviled Iraqi politics and fueled rampant violence.
Some major Iraqi players, such as top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, were willing to talk to the United Nations but not the United States or Britain, said Khalilzad, formerly U.S. envoy to Baghdad. By coincidence the new mandate will come amid a fresh political crisis in Iraq, with nearly half the cabinet having quit, or boycotting meetings.
There are currently only some 50 UNAMI international staff in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic complex, and a ceiling of 65. Security improvements are due to raise that ceiling to 95, U.N. officials say. U.S. and British officials have denied that their aim is to offload Iraq's political problems onto the United Nations, then pull their forces out.
But while Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon endorsed the U.N. role expansion at a meeting last month with U.S. President George W. Bush, some U.N. rank-and-file staff are concerned that safety issues have not been fully addressed. The new resolution was originally slated to be passed on Thursday but was delayed because the text still needed Iraqi government approval, U.N. diplomats said. It must go through on Friday, the day UNAMI's current mandate expires.
The new mandate requires UNAMI to "advise, support and assist" Iraqis on "advancing an inclusive, national dialogue and political reconciliation," reviewing the constitution, fixing internal boundaries and staging a census. The mission would promote dialogue between Iraq and its neighbors on border security, energy and refugees, assist the return of millions who have fled the violence, coordinate reconstruction and aid, and help promote economic reform.
The new mandate requires UNAMI to "advise, support and assist" Iraqis on "advancing an inclusive, national dialogue and political reconciliation," reviewing the constitution, fixing internal boundaries and staging a census. The mission would promote dialogue between Iraq and its neighbors on border security, energy and refugees, assist the return of millions who have fled the violence, coordinate reconstruction and aid, and help promote economic reform.
Labels: Iraq, reconciliation, U.N., UNAMI
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
US Army: 1920 Revolutionary Battalions Has Reconciled With The Iraqi Government
Politics, Insurgency
(Al Mashriq Newspaper) - 30 JUL - Yesterday, reconciliation was achieved between 1920 Revolutionary Battalions and the Iraqi government with the assistance of the US Army. A US Army statement clarified that the goal of this reconciliation is to assist the Iraqi government and MNF to smash Al Qaida in Iraq. It is worthy to mention that Iraqi security officials were upset with the US Army arming some insurgent groups with the Iraqi government’s approval.
Labels: 1920 Revolutionary Battalions, Al Qaeda in Iraq, Iraqi government, reconciliation, U.S. military
Monday, March 05, 2007
Sunnis turn on each other as some support reconciliation with Shias
Security
(Al Jazeera) Six Sunni men, who received death threats for meeting with local Shias, have been killed in execution-style slayings in a rising wave of sectarian violence, Iraqi police and military said. The attack on Saturday near Youssifiyah, 20 km south of the capital Baghdad, comes a day after the claimed abduction and execution of at least 14 Shias.
But in this case, Iraqi authorities said they believed that Sunni gunmen had killed fellow Sunnis revealing a rift between those who support reconciliation with Shias and those who will kill to stop it. Also on Saturday, three US soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb that exploded while they were on patrol in central Baghdad, the military said.
An adviser to Iraq's defence ministry was kidnapped in western Baghdad, an aide to Adnan al-Dulaimi, the head of the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, said. Lieutenant General Thamir Sultan hails from Saddam Hussein's tribe and had been mentioned as a possible defense minister when the current government was organised last year. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release the information.
Earlier, the US military said it killed "key terrorists" who were using anti-aircraft artillery to fire at American military helicopters near Taji, north of Baghdad.
The Iraqi men gunned down Saturday - all relatives from the Mashhada tribe - were killed after gunmen stormed the family's house at dawn, Haider Satar, an Iraqi policeman, said. The victims in Youssifiyah were separated from women and children and shot dead in their home, Satar said. Captain Ahmed al-Obeidi, from the Iraqi army, whose unit is stationed near the site of the attack, also confirmed the incident.
The bodies were transferred to a hospital morgue in the neighbouring town of Mahmoudiyah, where Associated Press Television footage showed them wrapped in blankets and lined up on the metal floor of a refrigeration chamber. At least two had their hands tied and bound behind their backs. The motive of the brutal attack could not be independently verified. But police, citing information from surviving relatives, said the victims had received threats from Sunni gunmen after participating in a reconciliation conference with Shias last month. The conference was held in Mahmoudiyah in late February.
But in this case, Iraqi authorities said they believed that Sunni gunmen had killed fellow Sunnis revealing a rift between those who support reconciliation with Shias and those who will kill to stop it. Also on Saturday, three US soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb that exploded while they were on patrol in central Baghdad, the military said.
An adviser to Iraq's defence ministry was kidnapped in western Baghdad, an aide to Adnan al-Dulaimi, the head of the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, said. Lieutenant General Thamir Sultan hails from Saddam Hussein's tribe and had been mentioned as a possible defense minister when the current government was organised last year. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release the information.
Earlier, the US military said it killed "key terrorists" who were using anti-aircraft artillery to fire at American military helicopters near Taji, north of Baghdad.
The Iraqi men gunned down Saturday - all relatives from the Mashhada tribe - were killed after gunmen stormed the family's house at dawn, Haider Satar, an Iraqi policeman, said. The victims in Youssifiyah were separated from women and children and shot dead in their home, Satar said. Captain Ahmed al-Obeidi, from the Iraqi army, whose unit is stationed near the site of the attack, also confirmed the incident.
The bodies were transferred to a hospital morgue in the neighbouring town of Mahmoudiyah, where Associated Press Television footage showed them wrapped in blankets and lined up on the metal floor of a refrigeration chamber. At least two had their hands tied and bound behind their backs. The motive of the brutal attack could not be independently verified. But police, citing information from surviving relatives, said the victims had received threats from Sunni gunmen after participating in a reconciliation conference with Shias last month. The conference was held in Mahmoudiyah in late February.
Labels: execution, Lieutenant General Thamir Sultan, Mashhada tribe, reconciliation, Shias, Sunnis, Youssifiyah
