Iraqi security forces and US troops are gaining the upper hand, but the new government still needs outside help maintaining control, the Iraqi foreign minister told the UN Security Council on Friday.
“Their efforts have won them the trust and cooperation of the Iraqi people and, with the support of the multinational forces, they have turned the corner in the fight against the insurgency and terrorism in Iraq,” Hoshyar Zebari said.
US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, this month’s council president, also cited “significant” security gains.
But Zebari said the 600,000-strong Iraqi forces, now charged with protecting about half the country’s 18 provinces, still fall “short of being able to independently assume full responsibility for the maintenance of security in all Iraqi territory.”
Zebari said Iraq “welcomes the continued support” of the international forces.
“We also note and encourage the trend to increase the presence of the United Nations and its specialized agencies in Iraq,” he said.
But he asked the council for “a reconsideration of Iraq’s compensatory obligations that have increased considerably in magnitude over the last year.”
Zebari said Iraq is “burdened by the heavy legacy of debt incurred by the previous regime.”
Iraq also worries it could lose immunity against lawsuits from victims of the late president Saddam Hussein’s regime, once the UN mandate for international forces in Iraq — mostly US troops — ends on Dec. 31, diplomats say.
Among the options are extending the mandate past this year to give time to work out the immunity issue and for Iraq and the US to work out a long-term treaty.
“We’re committing to working with them to find an alternative framework,” said Khalilzad, speaking for the council.
The US is negotiating a long-term security relationship with Iraq that would provide a legal basis for the presence of US forces in Iraq after the UN mandate expires. But on Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the talks were deadlocked.
Zebari also told reporters of “difficulties” in the talks with the US over questions about immunity, sovereignty and other issues. But, he said: “Well, I’m hopeful, you see, because Iraq does need … this agreement, I think, and it corresponds to its needs for the time being.”
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS