The UN Security Council has voted 14-0 to adopt a resolution welcoming the creation of Baghdad's new Governing Council, with Syria, the UN council's sole Arab nation, choosing to abstain.
The UN-drafted measure would also give an initial 12-month mandate to the new UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, which has been operating on emergency funding until now. The formal mandate will allow it to be funded via the regular UN budget.
"In its expression of support for the Governing Council of Iraq, this hastens the day when the people of Iraq are in full command of their own affairs, a condition they have not known for some three decades," US Ambassador John Negroponte said following the vote.
Syrian UN Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe had argued unsuccessfully for changes in the measure, stating that only the Iraqi people could judge their government and it was not the Security Council's role to welcome the US-appointed Governing Council.
Mr Wehbe also called for the resolution to include a reference to Iraqi sovereignty and a timetable for a return to Iraqi self-government.
But in the end, Mr Negroponte carried the day by arguing no changes were needed.