United Nations -- The United Nations Security Council held a meeting on Iraq yesterday, noting progress on security despite the fragility of the Iraqi political arena.

The meeting was scheduled to discuss the findings of Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's quarterly report on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States of America Alejandro D. Wolff came out strongly against the alleged Syrian and Iranian role in attempting to promote instability in Iraq. Mr. Wolff said, "Syria is the primary gateway for foreign terrorists moving into Iraq and the Government of Syria must do more to halt the operation of foreign fighter networks within its territory."

The secretary-general's report, released last Monday, had stated that, "Although civilian casualties as a result of violence remain unacceptably high, both the frequency of violent incidents and casualty figures have continued to decline and there has been increased cooperation from local communities in preventing acts of violence. The Iraqi Security Forces appear to be gaining in confidence and capability, and the number of units capable of taking the lead in operations is increasing."

Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn B. Pascoe said that it was necessary to cement security gains with "strengthened and sustained political dialogue" among the country's rival factions. Mr. Pascoe expressed concern over the failure of Iraqi lawmakers to agree on new electoral legislation to allow for provincial elections, a litmus test for the progress on Iraqi democracy.

Iraqi lawmakers yesterday had postponed a vote on the new election law by at least a month because of a feud over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

"The U.N. has been doing all it can to urge practical compromises," Mr. Pascoe said. "A failure to come to agreement on a law at this time would be a major setback, not only for the prospects of elections this year but for the larger process of national reconciliation in Iraq."

A U.N. sponsored plan proposed earlier this week would authorize elections for the entire country excluding Kirkuk, which would be dealt with at a later date.

On security, a number of delegations made statements as to which nation was responsible. U.S. representative Mr. Wolff accused Iran and Syria of being the catalyst for instability in Iraq.

"Iraqi troops uncovered convincing evidence that Iranian lethal aid has continued to flow into Iraq," Mr. Wolff added. "The lethal activities of Iran's Islamic Republic and Guards Corps-Qods Force contradict Iran's publicly stated policy of supporting the Iraqi government and must cease."

Syrian representative Bashar Ja'afari spoke to the media, responding, "We didn't spare any effort to strengthen the nation unity and the stability of Iraq ... I could say that the American position within the council has been isolated, and it is somehow aimed at justifying the failure of American policies in Iraq."

The Iranian mission also rejected the U.S. allegations, saying, "the U.S. government unwarrantedly insists on its unacceptable behavior in scapegoating others, including Iran, for its own wrong policies in Iraq in order to distract the attentions from the real sources of U.S. failures in that country that are the continuation of the presence of foreign forces in the country and certain wrong policies and practices on the part of foreign forces there."

The Permanent Representative of Iraq, Hamid Al Bayati, spoke to the media after the Security Council meeting, stating that there has been an improvement of political security and reconstruction in Iraq. "Iraq succeeded in preventing the sectarian war ... targeting Al-Qaida and armed groups," Mr. Bayati said.

When asked if there was a contradiction between the surplus in Iraq's coffers caused by high prices of oil and Iraq's request for debt forgiveness, Mr. Bayati said that the debt was caused as a result of Saddam's wars and the two should not be connected.

When asked about U.S. accusations that Iran and Syria are causing instability in Iraq, Mr. Bayati neglected to answer directly, only saying, "We seek the help of neighboring countries for peace and security in Iraq."

By Sam Harari
www.thebulletin.us