UN envoy urges Security Council demand end to Iraq insurgency

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. special envoy to Iraq urged the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday to demand an end to "hostilities and atrocities" committed by Sunni Islamist militants, saying the insurgents pose a threat that "is not and will not be limited to Iraq."

The advance by al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State, known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) when it seized swaths of northern Iraq last month, has put the OPEC oil producer's survival in jeopardy.