The UN Security Council delayed on Thursday its vote on a resolution to expand the United Nations role in Iraq by 24 hours to give the Iraqi government time to review it, diplomats said.
The United States and Britain, the draft's co-sponsors, wanted to make sure that recent minor changes to the text were backed by the Iraqi government. But Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was away on official trips to Turkey and Iran, forcing a delay of the vote until Friday, the US ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters.
"We wanted to make sure the final draft has the approval and comfort of the Iraqi government," Khalilzad said, adding that he had spoken with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and that "they are satisfied" with the text.
"We'll vote tomorrow (Friday)," he said. The resolution would extend the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which expires Friday, by one year. It also paves the way for the UN special envoy in Iraq to "as circumstances permit" to advise, support and assist the Iraqi government in political, economic, electoral, legal, constitutional, refugee and human rights matters.
UNAMI was set up under resolution 1500 of the Security Council of August 14, 2003, and fields several hundred international civilian personnel and local civilian staffers.
But the UN swept most of its personnel out of Baghdad after its headquarters there were hit on August 19, 2003 by a truck bombing that killed 22 workers, including special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. The United States has for months been pushing for an expanded UN role in Iraq, an idea to which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon lent his support during a meeting with US President George W. Bush last month.
The world body has allowed a maximum of 65 staffers to reside in Iraq since the 2003 bombing, but the number could be increased to 95 in October, under-secretary general for political affairs Lynn Pascoe has said. Others affiliated with UNAMI work out of bases in Jordan or Kuwait.
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