Iraq's foreign minister called on the United Nations to do more to support planned elections in his war-ravaged country, in comments Sunday during a visit to build ties with oil-hungry China. "We hope that the U.N. really will redouble its efforts to take this event far more seriously than it has done so far," Hoshyar Zebari said in an interview at Iraq's Embassy in Beijing. "The U.N. has a leading role, not only an advisory role in support of the election," he said. "To be honest, we are not satisfied about the level of the U.N. engagement." He said more U.N. staff and election monitors are needed, since the vote planned for Jan. 30 "must be seen and proven to be credible ... first by the Iraqi people and second by the international community." Zebari, the highest-ranking official from the interim Iraqi government to visit China, said he was encouraged by signs Beijing would forgive more Iraqi debt and seek more business deals in Iraq. He met with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing during his four-day visit.
