U.N. frets over Iraqi politics

UNITED NATIONS, July 20 (UPI) -- Iraq has made significant progress since Saddam Hussein's regime crumbled but there are concerns about prolonged political stalemates, a U.N. official said.

Iraq has had a series of democratic elections since U.S. forces invaded the country in 2003. International oil companies and other investors, meanwhile, have moved closer to Iraq as the security situation improves.

Martin Kobler, U.N. special envoy to Iraq, told the U.N. Security Council that Iraq as "much to be proud of" in terms of security and political progress. He expressed concern, however, over political infighting in Baghdad.

"Making progress in unblocking Iraq's unfinished legislative agenda requires an agreement between Iraq's political leaders that will end the political stalemate," he said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier this year faced a vote of no-confidence, which highlighted a fractured political system in Iraq that in part intensified after U.S. forces left the country in December.

Kobler said the U.N. mission in Iraq was "needed more than ever to help Iraq complete its transition to a stable and prosperous democracy."

Maliki's opponents say he's monopolizing power in Baghdad. Tensions between the central government in Baghdad and the semiautonomous administration in the Kurdish north, meanwhile, are complicated by emerging acrimony with Turkey.