U.N. Offers to Bolster Presence in Baghdad

[mia]

Source: Washington Post


By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 7, 2007; 4:54 PM

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 7 -- The United Nations has offered to bolster its presence in Baghdad for the first time in more than three years, laying the groundwork for a more ambitious role in mediating the country's sectarian disputes.

The move comes three weeks after President Bush delivered his second personal appeal to Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to help resolve some of Iraq's intractable religious and ethnic conflicts. The top U.N. political adviser, B. Lynn Pascoe, told the Security Council Tuesday that the United Nations would be prepared to increase the size of its mission in Baghdad by nearly 50 percent, raising the ceiling from 65 to as many as 95 international staffers in the coming months.

The United Nations is also seeking $130 million in funds to build a heavily reinforced compound in Baghdad to house its growing mission.

Ban has been committed to do more in Iraq than his predecessor, Kofi Annan, who vigorously opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq. But Ban has been constrained by the worsening violence and resistance among some U.N. officials who fear inheriting some of the responsibilities in Iraq....


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/07/AR2007080701076.html?hpid=topnews

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Looks like an interesting development.

[struggle4progress]

1. UN Staff Council Demands All UN Staff Be Pulled Out Of Iraq

8/8/2007 3:07:45 AM The UN staff council, the executive of the UN staff union representing more than 5,000 staff at the organization's headquarters in New York, unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon not to send any more staff to Iraq.

The staff council's resolution referred to "the unacceptably high level of risk to the safety and security of United Nations personnel currently serving in Iraq". The staff council asked that the resolution be sent to the secretary-general and the president of the Security Council.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said Tuesday it expects to raise the ceiling for international staff in Iraq from 65 to 95 by October.

The move by the staff council comes as Britain and the United States circulated a revised Security Council resolution that seeks to prolong and expand the UN's mandate in Iraq ~snip~

http://www.rttnews.com/FOREX/politicalnews.asp?date=08/08/2007&item=4