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Putin appeals to UN to end violence in Iraq
Porto Rotondo, Italy, Aug 30: Russian President Vladimir Putin said today greater United Nations involvement was needed in Iraq to end the escalating violence there.
Porto Rotondo, Italy, Aug 30: Russian President Vladimir Putin said today greater United Nations involvement was needed in Iraq to end the escalating violence there.
"We are witnessing an escalation of the violence in Iraq. The spiral is accelerating," he told a news conference in the Mediterranean Island of Sardinia, where he was meeting
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
"The most urgent thing is to end this escalation and the best way is to involve the United Nations more," he said. The remarks came hours after Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, a leading Shiite Muslim cleric, and 81 other people were killed in a car bomb in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq.
"What is needed is that the UN does not act as a guarantee, instead it must be really involved in what is going on. The UN does not gloss over, does not cover, others' actions, rather it takes its own decisions in an independent sort of way," Putin added. "The UN can take a decision that would make it possible to restore the Iraqi people's sovereignty over its territory, over its oil resources and over its future," the Russian President went on to say.
"We need a decision that will placate the Iraqi people, the Muslim world and Arab countries," Putin stressed. "This is what must be worked out, and this is what Russia supports," he further emphasised. The US government is currently looking at the possibility of deploying a stronger, more multinational force in Iraq under a UN mandate but with a US commanding officer.
Bureau Report
"The most urgent thing is to end this escalation and the best way is to involve the United Nations more," he said. The remarks came hours after Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, a leading Shiite Muslim cleric, and 81 other people were killed in a car bomb in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq.
"What is needed is that the UN does not act as a guarantee, instead it must be really involved in what is going on. The UN does not gloss over, does not cover, others' actions, rather it takes its own decisions in an independent sort of way," Putin added. "The UN can take a decision that would make it possible to restore the Iraqi people's sovereignty over its territory, over its oil resources and over its future," the Russian President went on to say.
"We need a decision that will placate the Iraqi people, the Muslim world and Arab countries," Putin stressed. "This is what must be worked out, and this is what Russia supports," he further emphasised. The US government is currently looking at the possibility of deploying a stronger, more multinational force in Iraq under a UN mandate but with a US commanding officer.
Bureau Report