Iraq has asked the United Nations to help in confronting the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), protecting its territories and people against the militants' schemes.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, in a message addressed to the United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, said, "We urge the United Nations and the international community to realize the reality of the extraordinary and dangerous threat facing our country and the whole international community." "Terrorist organizations have scratched off borders and fomented violence and civil warfare," Zebari said of the ISIL, forces of which have been moving across the borders with neighboring Syria. "On this basis, we need your help to defeat (ISIL) and protect our territories and people," Zebari said.
The foreign minister requested help for military training, technological aid and arms that can be used to "deprive the terrorists of bases and safe havens." Iraq, he said, is seeking urgent aid from the international community, according to bilateral and multi-lateral accords "within framework of full respect for national sovereignty and the Iraqi Constitution." ISIL militants, he said, have terrorized citizens, carried out mass executions, suppressed minorities, demolished mosques, mausoleums and churches, warning that thousands of "terrorists of diverse nationalities have infiltrated into Iraq from Syria."