Baghdad gives UNAMI the end of 2025 to leave the country after fiery briefings

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[size=52]Baghdad gives UNAMI the end of 2025 to leave the country after fiery briefings[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]Baghdad set 18 months to end the UNAMI mission in Iraq after political reports that appeared to anger the government. Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani strongly criticized the UN team for “consulting with non-Iraqi parties,” as stated in an official document. The mission, which has been in existence for more than 20 years, has provided “briefings” in recent months in which it criticized Baghdad’s policy.[/size]
[size=45]A government document sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, on behalf of Prime Minister Mohamed Al-Sudani, called for the end of UNAMI’s mission by “December 31, 2025.”[/size]
[size=45]The document said that after the government’s achievements, “the justifications for the presence of a political mission in Iraq are no longer available.”[/size]
[size=45]The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) is a special political mission established in 2003 under UN Security Council Resolution 1500, at the request of Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]The mission has begun its duties since then, and its role expanded significantly in 2007 under Resolution 1770, which came at a time when rates of violence in the country were rising.[/size]
[size=45]In addition, Sajjad Salem, the independent MP, rejected the Iraqi government’s request to end UNAMI, and warned of the escalation of violations by armed factions as a result.[/size]
[size=45]Last April, UN Secretary Antonio Guterres revealed Baghdad’s demand to reduce the mission’s mandate, starting on May 31, 2024, but he indicated at the time that the country still faces three risks, the most prominent of which are “the fragility of institutions” and “the spread of armed actors.” .[/size]
[size=45]The independent representative said in a statement, “We call on the Iraqi government to withdraw its request to end the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), which was established in 2003 pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution No. 1500, to assist the government and people of Iraq, to ​​promote human rights, political dialogue, societal reconciliation, and judicial reform.” And the legal.”[/size]
[size=45]Sajjad added, “Leaving the Iraqi people alone as they wage their struggle against the daily tyranny of armed factions and militias without any international humanitarian effort to monitor the human rights file would undermine every international humanitarian effort in Iraq after 2003, and Iraq will record an unparalleled deterioration in this situation.” the side".[/size]
[size=45]Sajjad stressed that “supporting the Iraqi people must be a priority for the United Nations and international organizations,” stressing that “supporting, protecting and promoting human rights, the oppressed, civil society organizations and those working in this field is a legal and humanitarian duty and a special case in need of international intervention.”[/size]
[size=45]UNAMI's role in Iraq faced criticism from activists, especially during the October protests in 2019, due to meetings conducted by the head of the mission, Jeanine Plasschaert, with faction leaders accused of violence against demonstrators.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Nanaa, a researcher in political affairs, says that “Plasschaert’s briefings” before the Security Council in the past year, in which “warnings” increased at the expense of “the government’s achievements.”[/size]
[size=45]In Plasschaert's last report, which was called a “farewell briefing,” due to the end of her mission in Iraq, she said that the country was “on the brink of danger.”[/size]
[size=45]Nana points out that between “Plasschaert’s one briefing and the next (he submits a report every 6 months), the level of ambition declines and fears of armed groups and crises with Kurdistan increase.”[/size]
[size=45]Observers considered that Plasschaert was late in describing the situation in the country, and that the escalation of her recent rhetoric was what angered Baghdad after previous briefings in which she focused on the government’s achievements.[/size]
[size=45]Ghazi Faisal, a former diplomat, says that Plasschaert “does not recognize the factions,” referring to previous meetings with the head of the mission with the leaders of those groups, most notably Qais Khazali, the leader of Asa’ib.[/size]
[size=45]Faisal believes that diplomatic work requires hearing all parties and gathering information “without flirting or condoning violations committed by militias.”[/size]
[size=45]In the government’s letter to Guterres, Al-Sudani recalled a previous request by Iraq to reduce UNAMI’s mandate, “but the Security Council decided to form an independent strategic review team to demonstrate the need for the mission’s continued work.”[/size]
[size=45]He added: “The team’s consultation, as expected, was not limited to the Iraqi government, but rather extended to parties that had no role when the mission was established in 2003.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani said that the strategic review team’s report “unfortunately did not distinguish between the government’s point of view and the points of view of unofficial parties representing their personal opinions.”[/size]
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