RUSSIA:Russia signalled its assent yesterday to a US-British draft resolution that would expand the political role of the UN in Iraq, making its approval by the Security Council almost certain.
"I think it's overall a good draft. Some work, of course, may be required, but I don't see any basic problems," Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.
The draft circulated to the Security Council's 15-member states on Wednesday called for a major upgrade to the scope of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, or Unami, to accompany the extension of its mandate for a further year.Since it was set up four years ago, Unami has focused mainly on helping with elections and monitoring human rights.
UN staff were withdrawn from Iraq after their Baghdad office was blown up, killing 22 people, in 2003, but some later returned.
US ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad has said he wants the world body more involved in reconciliation between Iraq's feuding factions. Secretary general Ban Ki-moon also favours a bigger UN role.
The draft, which comes as Washington and London are urging Iraq to take more responsibility, says Unami should also promote dialogue between Iraq and its neighbours on border security, energy and refugees.
The mission should also assist in the return of millions of refugees who have fled the violence, co-ordinate reconstruction programmes and aid, and help promote economic reform, it says.
Meanwhile Iraqi politicians said yesterday they were hoping for a breakthrough to restore a unity government after a Sunni Arab bloc quit, but the magnitude of the sectarian conflict was again underlined by the killing of five brothers yesterday.
Demonstrating the viciousness of sectarian violence, a young boy, crying but unharmed, was found next to the bodies of his five brothers near the northern city of Kirkuk after they were kidnapped by gunmen a day earlier.
A suicide bomber drove a car bomb into a queue of recruits at a police station north of Baghdad, killing 13 people, a day after bombs killed more than 70 people in the capital.
The biggest Sunni Arab bloc, the Accordance Front, triggered what Kurdish deputy prime minister Barham Salih called the worst political crisis since Iraq's new constitution was adopted by pulling out of prime minister Nuri al-Maliki's government on Wednesday.
But a senior member of parliament from Mr Maliki's Shia bloc said a "breakthrough is possible" in resolving the standoff.