UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend the mandate of the nearly 180,000-strong multinational force in Iraq for a year, a decision the United States called a strong sign of the international commitment to Iraq's political transition.
The resolution was adopted in response to a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for the U.S.-led force to remain in the country.
The current mandate authorizing the presence of the force expires on Dec. 31, about two weeks after parliamentary elections — the end point of the political process as defined by the Security Council.
The resolution extends the mandate until Dec. 31, 2006, with a review after eight months. Under its terms, the council will "terminate this mandate earlier if requested by the government of Iraq."
The force comprises 157,000 American troops and 22,000 troops from other countries.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton called the unanimous vote "a significant signal that the international community's committed to making the process in Iraq — as they attempt to create institutions of representative government — succeed."
Bolton said the resolution was adopted nearly two months early because its sponsors wanted "to show the solidarity of international support for the electoral process in Iraq and to avoid it becoming an issue in the upcoming election."
After the vote, Iraqi U.N. Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie thanked council members for their backing, saying the upcoming election and formation of a new government are vital interests of the international community.
"Failure would be too awful to contemplate and would represent a threat to regional and international peace," he said.
Al-Jaafari had requested the yearlong extension in a letter to the council last month. He said his nation was nearing the end of a political transition that began with the toppling of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces in 2003.
When the multinational force might be able to leave remains a major question for the council — and its key troop contributors.
On Oct. 29, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote a letter to the council saying "substantial progress" has been made to build and train Iraqi security forces and allow them to take on more security responsibilities. She said she expects more progress in the next year.
"Together, we will build towards the day when the Iraqi forces assume full responsibility for the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq," she wrote.
Bolton stressed to the council, however, that "there is still much work to be done on that front."
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry urged U.N. member states, especially Iraq's neighbors, to help keep terrorists and their weapons and financing out of Iraq, while Russian ambassador Andrey Denisov emphasized the resolution's respect for Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In Egypt, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan denounced the insurgents, saying they had a strategy to turn Muslims "not only against the West but against each other."
He said, however, that Iraq's bloody insurgency was inevitable following the U.S.-led invasion.
"Opinions among Iraqis differed widely, as they still do, about the reasons for the foreign military presence in their country," Annan said in a speech at the American University in Cairo.
"It was foreseeable that some would choose to resist by force of arms."
The resolution also extended the mandates for the International Advisory and Monitoring Board and the Development Fund for Iraq until Dec. 31, 2006. The fund was set up in Baghdad to receive Iraq's oil revenue and frozen assets from Saddam's regime. It is now controlled by the Iraqi government.
The board was established by the Security Council in May 2003 to oversee the fund's operations.