UN Iraq Mission to End Next Year

Fri May 31 2024
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NEWYORK: At the request of Iraq, the UN Security Council on Friday unanimously decided that the United Nations political mission in the country would end its operations at the end of 2025 after more than 20 years.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani in a letter to the council earlier this month called for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) to be closed.

Al-Sudani said UNAMI had overcome varied and great challenges and there are no grounds for having a political mission in Iraq.

The UNSC resolution adopted on Friday extended the mission for a final 19-month period until 31 December 2025 after which UNAMI will stop all work and operations.

The mission was sent by the UN Security Council through a resolution in 2003 at the request of the Iraqi government after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

It advises the government on political dialogue and reconciliation, as well as helping in elections and security sector reform.

During the mission’s last renewal in May 2023, the Council asked the secretary-general to start a strategic review, which was overseen by German diplomat Volker Perthes.

In a report issued in March, Perthes hinted that an end to the mandate could be appropriate, saying that the two-year period identified by the government for the mission’s drawdown would a sufficient to make further progress.

He also added that the period would help to reassure reluctant Iraqis that the transition would not threaten peace and security of the country.

Given that UN missions can only function with the host nation’s consent, Britain, China, France and Russia this month all voiced support for a transition in the partnership between Iraq and the United Nations.

UN ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the UNSC said UNAMI still had important work to do.

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