Hussein: we look forward to see the UN election monitoring team in Baghdad

Baghdad - INA

Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein affirmed the government's aspiration to see a UN team to monitor the elections in all the Iraqi provinces.

A statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), stated that Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein met at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the head of the electoral support team in the Department of Political Affairs and Peace building at the United Nations Secretariat, Craig Gaines, and his accompanying security team.

During the meeting, they discussed the necessary preparations for holding the upcoming parliamentary elections on its specified date.

The minister stressed that "the government is continuing to hold the elections, which is one of the most important objectives of the governmental plan, expressing his thanks to the electoral support team for their great efforts during the negotiations concerning Iraq's request for electoral observation.

Hussein pointed that "the Iraqi government looks forward to see an international monitoring team in all Iraqi provinces to enhance public confidence in the electoral process, stressing that the Iraqi government seeks to cooperate with many regional organizations and a large number of countries for the purpose of sending electoral observation teams.

He affirmed the government's readiness to provide all the requirements to provide a safe environment for fair elections that meet the international standards, pointing out that the security situation in Iraq is much better than it was several years ago, in light of the great efforts made by the security services to combat terrorism.

For his part, Craig Gaines, head of the electoral support team, indicated that the electoral support team succeeded in securing the necessary funding for the exercise of the United Nations electoral observation team in Iraq through grants provided by some countries, including the United States of America, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

He also pointed out that "the United Nations will employ (150) UN experts to enhance the electoral support efforts provided to Iraq, and they will work as a preparatory team for the monitoring process, and they will be distributed to four main centers in Iraq, and (100) UN experts will be sent in mid of September, as their main mission will be monitoring the election.

Gaines also reviewed the efforts of the United Nations, which are divided into two axes in the field of electoral support, namely: technical assistance and electoral observation, so that the United Nations Electoral Assistance Mission in Iraq will be the largest one," noting that "the strategic communication team will arrive in Baghdad soon.