UN envoy urges Iraqi leaders to respond to people's aspirations for change

A UN envoy warned on Tuesday that the continued use of violence against civilians in Iraq is intolerable and called on Iraqi leaders to respond with urgency to the Iraqi people's aspirations for change. In a video presentation to the UN Security Council, UN envoy to Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said, political leaders do not have the luxury of time and must rise to the moment.

The envoy noted that more than



400 people have been killed and more than 19,000 injured in two months of unrest in Iraq that has pitted protesters demanding sweeping reform against security forces.

 

Last week, Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi resigned in the face of a fresh wave of protests, and Iraqi leaders were meeting in Baghdad today to search for a way out of the crisis.