Russian Foreign Minister: UN to continue work in Iraq

The UN should continue its work in Iraq. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov voices this opinion in his article "On the Tragedy in Baghdad" published on Monday by the Kommersant newspaper.

"The UN should continue its work in Iraq. It is responsible for organising assistance to stabilise the situation in the country," the Russian minister writes.

"The Iraqi people should be offered a clear plan of restoring the country's sovereignty in undertime," he believes. In order to do this, the UN mission should have the necessary powers to directly participate in forming the transitional government, preparing and conducting constitutional reforms, organising the elections of the country's internationally recognised government.

In the recent months, the UN efforts have aimed at assisting the post-war settlement in Iraq, at returning the full powers to the legitimately elected representatives of the Iraqi people as soon as possible, at ensuring the country's independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty, Ivanov recalls.

"The UN Security Council's resolutions 1483 and 1500 aim at achieving this goal. The UN Secretary General's Iraq envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 20 his colleagues sacrificed their lives in this cause," the Russian minister writes.

We are yet to answer, who was interested in blowing up the UN building in Baghdad, he concludes.