Iraq has entered a new phase after holding successful provincial elections last month, but humanitarian and territorial concerns remain, the United Nations Security Council was told on Thursday. “Two months into 2009 Iraq has emerged sovereign and rising to expectations,” said Staffan de Mistura, the U.N.'s top envoy in Iraq in his briefing to the Council. There was a “striking lack of violence” during the elections signaling a strengthened and more capable Iraqi security force, which bodes well for the eventual withdrawal of international forces, added Mistura who noted that of the 440 people elected in provincial elections, 110 were women. Nevertheless, the situation in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk still has to be addressed with tensions between Arabs and Kurds—“a particular concern,” said Mistura. The U.N. hopes to hold elections there this summer but before then a census must be conducted and an agreement on power and revenue sharing reached. National parliamentary elections are slated for December. Despite the global financial crisis, “Iraq is a rich country,” de Mistura said to reporters after his briefing to the Council. Iraq generates some $58 billion per year in oil revenue, he said, “so I'm sure they will give sufficient priority to where the priorities are.” These priorities are security, insecurity, basic services and national reconciliations, he said.
