UN envoy warns of possible Syria spillover into Iraq

Country already hosts nearly 120,000 Syrians, with some 8,000 Syrians arriving every day, Martin Kobler tells Security Council

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The UN envoy to Iraq is warning that a spillover of violence from Syria would fuel the political and security challenges facing the country, which threaten the achievements of the last decade.

Martin Kobler told the Security Council on Thursday that there is “a very real potential” for a spillover.

Iraq hosts nearly 120,000 Syrians, and an average of 8,000 Syrians are arriving every day, he said. Approximately 80,000 Iraqis living in Syria returned home in the last few months.

Kobler said volatility on the streets is reflected at the political level, and members of every ethnic and social group continue to be targets of acts of terrorism, assassination and kidnapping.

Between November and the end of February, he said, acts of terrorism claimed the lives of almost 1,300 civilians.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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