Maliki, Biden discuss forthcoming UNSC meeting on Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister-Designate Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden discussed over a phone call Saturday preparations for a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Iraq on Dec. 15, scheduled to review progress made by Iraq to bring it out of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, according to a release by the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. “The meeting, to be chaired by Biden, will discuss means through which UNSC members can continue support for the government and people of Iraq,” read the release as received by IraqiNews.com news agency. It noted that the two sides also tackled joint efforts to enable Iraq to return to its international stature it had had prior to the implementation of Chapter VII resolutions as well as security conditions and progress on forming a government. Iraq came under Chapter VII of the UN Charter after its forces invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990. The measure allows the use of force against Iraq for “the threat it posed to international security” in addition to the freezing of its assets in global banks to pay compensations for the companies and people harmed by the invasion of Kuwait. AmR (P) 1