New York - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Thursday said
reductions in violence will allow Iraq's security forces to take the
lead from foreign forces in all provinces by the end of the year and
invited diplomatic missions back into the country.
Talabani said ongoing efforts at national reconciliation and the
coming of age of Iraq's police and military had both helped improve
the security situation over the past year.
'These steps do not fully satisfy our ambitions, for the road to
achieving our desired goal of a secure, stable and prosperous Iraq is
long,' he said, in an address before the United Nations General
Assembly in New York.
The United Nations should 'raise its presence' in Iraq, Talabani
said, but suggested it was time for the Security Council to end the
UN's mandate for international forces in the country.
The United States and Iraq are working on a separate military
agreement that would replace the UN mandate - which expires this year
- and allow US troops to remain in Iraq. The US-Iraqi deal has been
hampered by disagreements over a possible pullout date for US forces.
Talabani urged the international community and regional powers to
help Iraq confront terrorism, to provide more development aid and to
open or re-open their diplomatic embassies in Baghdad.
'Iraq no longer threatens international peace and security,'
Talabani said.
Iraqi forces last month took control of military operations in
Anbar province, a predominantly Sunni region that had been one of the
country's most violent. A surge of US troops last year, together with
a number of Sunni tribes changing sides, has also helped to sharply
reduce violence in the country.
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