United Nations Radio

The top UN official in Iraq is confident the country will flourish if Iraqis can avoid or defuse tensions, and if they see changes in their daily lives as a result of better security.

Staffan De Mistura

Staffan de Mistura told the UN Security Council on Thursday that the UN Mission in Iraq, known as UNAMI, had turned a page on how Iraqis view the UN, the international community and their leaders.

"In an unusual combination for any integrated mission in such an operationally challenging environment, UNAMI was at the same time, acting in emergency mode, with its political arm working mainly on conflict prevention on the Arab-Kurdish file, for instance, while the rest of the mission was working already on post-conflict and peace building."

Staffan de Mistura, who has completed his assignment in Iraq after serving 18 months there, said the country was consistently building credible and independent institutions - a functioning cabinet, a reliable Parliament, an experienced electoral commission, and an increasingly capable Iraqi security force.

Diane Bailey, United Nations.

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