Iraq more secure, needs political consensus-UN

Iraq more secure, needs political consensus-UN

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The United Nations' chief envoy in Iraq gave a mixed report on the situation in Iraq on Monday, saying the security situation had improved but cautioning that Iraqis must reach a political consensus.

"We cannot ignore the recent improvements both in the security and political situation in Iraq," Staffan de Mistura, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), said in a speech to the Security Council.

He said the reduced level of violence could be attributed to a number of factors including the increased presence of U.S. and other troops, a ceasefire declared by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, and increased cooperation with Iraq's neighbors.

However, he warned the council that "absent a political consensus on the most fundamental elements of the Iraqi state -- currently tenuous -- the Iraqis will achieve no lasting solution on the reduction of violence." (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau, editing by Vicki Allen