United Nations, November 17: The UN Security Council on Friday called on Iraq’s political parties to show “national unity” as the war-ravaged nation lurches with uncertainty toward January elections.
It asked “all political blocs and their leaders in Iraq to demonstrate true statesmanship during the election campaign,” according to a statement by ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting of Austria, which this month chairs the 15-nation body.
He also called on Iraqis to “participate in a spirit of national unity,” as infighting continued over the rules governing the polls.
UN envoy Ad Melkert warned that “success is far from guaranteed.”
“Inside and outside forces continue their efforts to impose an agenda of division and destruction,” he told the council.
The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 is viewed by critics as an ‘act of aggression’ that violated international law.
Subsequent US occupation policies caused the country to descend into almost total chaos, bordering on civil war.
An estimated 1.3 million Iraqis have been killed in Iraq as a direct result of the invasion, while millions more have fled the country.
Critics argue that the recent stability announced in the country should not excuse the ‘crime’ of invading Iraq, calling for the prosecution of the war’s architects for ‘crimes against humanity’.
—Agencies