Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held talks on Wednesday on efforts to restore Iraq's international standing as it has emerged from years of conflict, according to dpa. One demand by Baghdad has been that it is no longer be considered a threat to international peace and security, a condition cited by the UN Security council since the early 1990s when it allowed the military intervention after Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait. The United States led a multinational force to repel the Iraqis from Kuwait. In the current conflict in Iraq, The US is leading a multinational force to help the Baghdad government fight insurgent forces. The deployment of international troops on Iraqi soil was authorized by the council which invoked Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Chapter 7 allows use of force to implement UN mandates. Since the 1990s, the council has adopted a series of resolutions dealing with the conflict there and those resolutions are subject to periodic review. UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said al-Maliki and Ban discussed the review process. She said Ban informed al-Maliki that the actual review process is underway and a report should be issued "shortly."
