CAIRO (Reuters) - Iraq welcomed a unanimous decision by the United Nations Security Council on Friday to terminate the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), set up after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraq's state news agency said.
The mission, based in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, had a wide mandate to help develop Iraqi institutions, support political dialogue and elections, and promote human rights.
Iraq requested in May that the U.N. mission end by the end of 2025, saying it was no longer needed because Iraq had made significant progress towards stability.
Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem Al-Awadi said the decision was "a result of the tangible progress that Iraq has witnessed in various ways, stability at the internal level, and the completion of the political construction process that began in 2003, after the overthrow of a dictatorial regime", the state news agency reported.
Since last year, Iraq has taken steps to end several international missions, including the U.S.-led coalition created in 2014 to fight Islamic State and a U.N. mission established to help promote accountability for the jihadist group's crimes.
(Reporting By Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Adam Makary; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
