UN envoy: Iraq’s new leaders must keep fighting corruption

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. special envoy for Iraq is urging the country’s new government to keep fighting corruption and move quickly on much-needed economic, fiscal and financial reforms. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that many other areas also require immediate government attention, from ensuring human rights to resolving issues with the Kurdistan Regional Government to improving public services. She expressed hope the government will address many structural issues. In the U.N. special representative words: “The urgency is for Iraq’s political class to seize the brief window of opportunity it is awarded, and to finally lift the country out of recurring cycles of instability and fragility.”