UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The Security Council yesterday unanimously agreed to expand the UN mission in Iraq despite the high level of insecurity in the country and resistance by United Nations staff.
The resolution presented by the United States and Great Britain, approved by all of the council's 15 members, extends the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which expires Friday, by one year.
The measure permits the expansion of the UN staff in Iraq and paves the way for a UN special envoy "as circumstances permit" to "advise, support and assist" the Iraqi government in a wide range of matters -- political, economic, legal, and human rights among them.
The resolution also underscores the US-led multinational force in Iraq's "important role" in supporting United Nation's mission, especially in providing safety for its staff.
"Security is essential for UNAMI to carry out its work on behalf of the people of Iraq," it says.
US President George W. Bush was quick to praise the measure.
"This vote sends an important signal of the United Nations' commitment to support stability and security in Iraq," said White House spokesperson Dana Perino, traveling with Bush as the president visits his family's vacation compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.
The world body has allowed a maximum of 65 staffers to reside in Iraq since the body swept most of its personnel out of Baghdad after its headquarters was bombed August 19, 2003 The truck bomb killed 22, most notably special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Currently there are only 55 in the country, 50 in Baghdad and five in Basra. And about 235 UNAMI-affiliated staffers work out of Jordan and Kuwait.
The ceiling for in-country staff could be increased to 95 in October under the new resolution, UN under-secretary general for political affairs Lynn Pascoe said earlier this week.
Yesterday at the United Nations, Iraq's ambassador Hamid al-Bayati endorsed the measure before the council vote.
"Our view right from the beginning was that we should have an important role for the UN," Bayati said.
"They were hesitant after the terrorist attack against the UN headquarters in Baghdad ... But we've been encouraging them to send more personnel and staff to Iraq and we hope that they will be able to do so after this resolution."
The United States has for months been pushing for an expanded UN role in Iraq, an idea to which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon lent his support during a meeting with US President George W. Bush last month.
Bayati however said he did not see US support for the resolution as heralding a move to eventually pass security responsibility for Iraq over to the United Nations.
"The US is having a different role. The US forces are not going to be replaced by the UN. The UN is not going to send forces," he said.
"The US is doing a military and security role but the UN will do another role which is political, humanitarian."