More needs to be done to help Iraq overcome divisions, says Secretary-General

Although some initial steps toward national reconciliation in Iraq have begun, more needs to be done to help the communities resolve the fundamental issues that divide them, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in his latest quarterly report.

Mr. Ban writes that the Government “continues to face formidable challenges to reaching a national consensus on how to share power and resources.” But he notes that new legislation, including the Justice and Accountability Law, which replaced earlier policies banning former members of the Baath party from public office, represents a compromise between the interests of the country’s three main parliamentary blocks.

Mr. Ban goes on to urge Iraqi leaders to pursue “the Iraqi national interest, rather than individual, party, ethnic or sectarian interests.”

He also says that the holding of credible governorate elections later this year could in the long run serve to underpin the legitimacy of democratic governance, calling on Iraq’s Council of Representatives to “urgently pass a governorate elections law” to conduct the elections as smoothly and as fairly as possible.

The report welcomes the freeze on military operations by the Mahdi Army, announced by its leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, and notes that the end of the fighting in Basra and other places at the end of March was made possible by compromise and agreement.

Mr. Ban adds that he is deeply concerned that large sections of the population are living in poverty and insecurity. To meet the humanitarian needs of Iraqis, he urges Iraq’s political leadership to agree on a hydrocarbon law so that the country’s oil resources can be shared in a fair and transparent manner.

The report is scheduled to be discussed by the Security Council on Monday, where it will be presented by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe.