Security Council votes to expand U.N. role in Iraq

The U.N. will be promoting discussions among various Iraqi factions.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Security Council voted unanimously Friday to expand the U.N. role in Iraq and opened the door for the world body to promote talks to ease Iraq’s sectarian bloodshed.

The broader U.N. initiatives on Iraq — which could begin next month — were supported by Washington in an apparent bid to bring together Iraqi factions and neighboring countries under an international umbrella rather than struggling on its own to bridge the many religious, ethnic and strategic battles opened by the five-year-old war.

The Bush administration is also seeking ways to boost the embattled government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which has been paralyzed by internal political feuds.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he hopes to organize a meeting of foreign ministers from the region at U.N. headquarters in late September on the sidelines of an annual General Assembly meeting. The United Nations will also be urging discussions among various Iraqi factions, ethnic and religious groups, he said.

What resolution addresses

The resolution authorizes the United Nations — at the request of the Iraqi government — to promote political talks among Iraqis and a regional dialogue on issues including border security, energy and refugees as well as help tackling the country’s worsening humanitarian crisis which has spilled into neighboring countries.

The United States and Britain, co-sponsors of the resolution, believe the world body should do more to use its perceived neutrality to promote dialogue on Iraq.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. envoy to Iraq, has said, for example, that Iraq’s top Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, won’t talk to the Americans but he will talk to the U.N. envoy, Ashraf Qazi.

For the United Nations, however, ramping up its presence in Iraq remains a highly sensitive issue.

The United Nations pulled out of Iraq in October 2003 after two bombings at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad and a spate of attacks on humanitarian workers. After Friday’s vote, the secretary-general and many council members recalled the upcoming anniversary of the first bombing, on Aug. 19, 2003, which killed the top U.N. envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21 others.

The U.N. allowed 35 international staffers to return in August 2004, but the ceiling remain low, currently 65, because of security concerns. Last week, the U.N.’s top political official said the U.N. expects to raise the ceiling to 95 by October. Hours later, however, the U.N. Staff Council called on the secretary-general to pull all U.N. personnel out of the country until security improves.