BAGHDAD, June 17 (UPI) -- The outgoing U.N. special envoy for Iraq said political leaders needed to sit down to figure out how to address "despicable and heinous crimes" of terrorism.
Martin Kober, outgoing U.N. special envoy to Iraq, said he was frustrated with the steady stream of terrorist attacks plaguing post-war Iraq.
Last month was the deadliest in Iraq in five years. More than 1,000 civilians and security officials died in terrorist attacks or other acts of violence in May.
Kobler said ongoing violence was something political leaders in Iraq needed to place at the top of their agenda.
"Nothing can justify such despicable and heinous crimes, targeting innocent people going about their daily business," he said in a statement Sunday.
Kobler moves to head the U.N. mission for the Democratic Republic of Congo in July.
A string of car bombings and shootings across Iraq left at least 20 people dead and more than 100 others wounded last weekend.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met his Kurdish counterparts last week to try to settle political issues complicating national security challenges. Much of the conflict in Iraq is along Shiite and Sunni lines, however.
