UN council to vote on Iraq resolution

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UNITED NATIONS, Aug 10 (AP): US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said a resolution that would expand the UN mandate in Iraq will internationalise the effort to assist Iraqis in overcoming their internal differences and bringing neighboring countries together to help the country.
"This is not a substitute for what the United States is doing," he told The Associated Press on the eve of Friday's vote on the resolution, which is co-sponsored by the US and Britain.
Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said he expected the resolution to be unanimously approved.
The sponsors delayed a vote so that Iraq's prime minister could revise the text, which would authorise the world body to help the government promote national reconciliation, better relations with its neighbors and deal with humanitarian concerns.
Khalilzad said he was informed Thursday that the Iraqis are now satisfied with the resolution. Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari sent a letter asking that the mandate of the UN mission, which expires Friday, be extended for a year - a requirement before the resolution can be adopted.
In the letter, Zebari said "Iraq's interests" require an expansion of the UN role "on both the humanitarian and the political tracks, domestically and regionally."
This is essential, he said, "particularly in respect to facilitating the return to Iraq of UN specialised agencies, funds and programmes ... to rebuild and stabilise Iraq ... and to begin a comprehensive effort to reverse the deterioration of Iraq's infrastructure."