BAGHDAD (AP) — United National Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was in Baghdad on Saturday to mark the end of the political mission set up in 2003 following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The U.N. Security Council, at Iraq’s request, voted last year to wind down the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), by the end of 2025. The mission was set up to coordinate post-conflict humanitarian and reconstruction efforts and help restore a representative government in the country.
Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said his country “highly values” the mission's work in a region “that has suffered for decades from dictatorship, wars, and terrorism.” He said its conclusion showed Iraq had reached a stage of “full self-reliance.”
“Iraq emerged victorious thanks to the sacrifices and courage of its people,” he said in a joint statement with Guterres.
The ending of UNAMI’s mandate “does not signify the end of the partnership between Iraq and the U.N.,” Sudani said, adding that it represents the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation focused on development and inclusive economic growth.
The prime minister said a street in Baghdad would be named “United Nations Street” in honor of the U.N.’s work and in recognition of 22 U.N. staff who were killed in an Aug. 19, 2003, truck bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, which housed the U.N. headquarters.
Guterres praised “the courage, fortitude and determination of the Iraqi people” and the country's efforts to restore security and order after years of sectarian violence and the rise of extremist groups, including the Islamic State group, in the years after the 2003 invasion.
“Iraqis have worked to overcome decades of violence, oppression, war, terrorism, sectarianism and foreign interference,” the secretary-general said. “And today’s Iraq is unrecognizable from those times.”
Iraq “is now a normal country, and relations between the U.N. and Iraq will become normal relations with the end of UNAMI,” Guterres added. He also expressed appreciation for Iraq’s commitment to returning its citizens from the al-Hol camp, a sprawling tent camp in northeastern Syria housing thousands of people — mostly women and children — with alleged ties to the IS.
Guterres recently recommended former Iraqi President Barham Salih to become the next head of the U.N. refugee agency, the first nomination from the Middle East in half a century.
Salih’s presidential term, from 2018 to 2022, came in the immediate aftermath of the Islamic State group’s rampage across Iraq and the battle to take back the territory seized by the extremist group, including the key northern city of Mosul.
At least 2.2 million Iraqis were displaced as they fled the IS offensive. Many, particularly members of the Yazidi minority from the northern Sinjar district, remain in displacement camps today.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein, left, greets United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at Baghdad airport, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein, left, greets United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, right, at Baghdad airport, Iraq, Saturday, Dec.13, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein, left, greets United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, right, at Baghdad airport, Iraq, Saturday, Dec.13, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Belarusian authorities have released Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova from prison, Pavel Sapelka, human rights advocate with the Viasna rights group, confirmed to the AP.
Their release comes as authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko seeks to improve relations with Washington. The U.S. earlier on Saturday announced lifting sanctions on the country’s potash sector. In exchange for sanctions relief, Lukashenko pardoned 123 prisoners.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned 123 prisoners in exchange for a lifting of some U.S. sanctions, Belarusian state news agency Belta said Saturday, as the isolated nation seeks to improve relations with Washington.
A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced Western isolation and sanctions for years. Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been repeatedly sanctioned by Western countries both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Belarus has released hundreds of prisoners since July 2024.
Earlier Saturday, the United States said it was lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash in the latest sign of a thaw between Washington and the isolated autocracy.
John Coale, the U.S. special envoy for Belarus, made the announcement after meeting Lukashenko in Minsk on Friday and Saturday.
Speaking with journalists, Coale described the two-day talks as “very productive,” Belarus’ state news agency Belta reported Saturday.
The U.S. envoy said that normalizing relations between Washington and Minsk was “our goal.”
“We’re lifting sanctions, releasing prisoners. We’re constantly talking to each other,” he said, according to Belta. He also said that the relationship between the countries was moving from “baby steps to more confident steps” as they increased dialogue.
The last time U.S. officials met with Lukashenko in September 2025, Washington announced easing some of the sanctions against Belarus while Mink released more than 50 political prisoners into Lithuania. Overall, Belarus released more than 430 political prisoners since July 2024, in what was widely seen as an effort at a rapprochement with the West.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press on Saturday that sanctions relief was part of a deal between Minsk and Washington, in which another large group of political prisoners in Belarus were expected to be released.
“The freeing of political prisoners means that Lukashenko understands the pain of Western sanctions and is seeking to ease them,” Tsikhanouskaya said.
She added: “But let’s not be naive: Lukashenko hasn’t changed his policies, his crackdown continues and he keeps on supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. That’s why we need to be extremely cautious with any talk of sanctions relief, so that we don't reinforce Russia's war machine and encourage continued repressions.”
Tsikhnouskaya also described European Union sanctions against Belarusian potash fertilizers as far more painful for Minsk that those imposed by the U.S, saying that while easing U.S. sanctions could lead to the release of political prisoners, European sanctions should push for longterm, systemic changes in Belarus and the end of Russia's war in Ukraine.
The latest round discussions also touched on Venezuela, as well as Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Belta said.
Coale told reporters that Lukashenko had given “good advice” on how to address the conflict, saying that Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin were “longtime friends” with “the necessary level of relationship to discuss such issues.”
"Naturally, President Putin may accept some advice and not others,” Coale said.
In this photo released by Belarusian presidential press service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, and U.S. Presidential envoy John Coale shake hands during their meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP)
