UN envoy welcomes Iraqi leaders’ moves on Kurdistan

The top United Nations envoy for Iraq today congratulated the country’s president, Jalal Talabani, and the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, for signing an agreement paving the way for a single administration in the Kurdish region of the violence-wracked country.

“It is the hope of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) that institution building in the region and other areas of Iraq will lay the foundations for long-term stability and prosperity of its citizens,” Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, said in a statement released in Baghdad.

Last week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the announcement by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) of the preliminary results of December’s election and called on all sides in the devastated country to work together.

“The Secretary-General pays tribute to the courage and determination of the Iraqi people for participating in large numbers in this national election,” his spokesman said in a statement released in New York.

Looking to the announcement of the final results, the Secretary-General called on all Iraqi political parties “to come together in a spirit of national reconciliation to form an inclusive and fully representative government that will serve all the Iraqi people.”

The Secretary-General also pledged the world body’s continued full commitment to backing efforts by all the Iraqi people to build a peaceful, prosperous, democratic and united country.