Iraq urges Middle East powers to unite against terror
Plea for peace: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) gestures prior to the opening of the Baghdad peace conference yesterday. Maliki urged 16 regional and world powers, including its neighbours Iran and Syria, to forge a common front against terrorism and end their alleged support for violent extremists.Picture: AFP
Sunday, March 11, 2007
IRAQ urged 16 regional and world powers, including its neighbours Iran and Syria, yesterday to forge a common front against terrorism and end their alleged support for violent extremists.
As mortar blasts and sporadic gunfire echoed around Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched talks with envoys from Middle Eastern states and from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
The embattled premier demanded that Iraq not be made a battlefield for a proxy war between regional powers — an implicit reference to the rivalry between Shi'ite Iran and Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbours.
"We wish to have our neighbours' support for confronting terrorism," said Maliki in his opening address to the assembled diplomats, warning that the violence gripping Iraq could spread throughout the region.
"The terrorism that today is trying to kill Iraqis in Baghdad, Hilla, Mosul and Anbar is the same as the terror that intimidated the population of Saudi Arabia, targeted the people of Egypt, attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and hit underground trains in Madrid and London.
"This is an international epidemic, the price of which is being paid by the people of Iraq, and our country is on the frontline of confrontation," he said.
"Confronting terrorism means halting any form of financial support and media or religious incitement, as well as logistical support and the provision of arms and men that will become explosive tools killing our children, women and elders, and bombing our mosques and churches.
Maliki demanded "that regional and international states refrain from interfering or influencing the Iraqi situation by supporting certain sects, nationalities or parties."
Following the opening address, envoys repaired for closed-door talks at which they were to discuss the drafting of a common statement and a date and a location for a follow-up meeting of higher-level ministers.
The meeting was expected to last one day.
US commanders accuse Iranian agents of smuggling weapons to Shi'ite militias in Iraq, including components for lethal roadside bombs that have been blamed for the deaths of at least 170 US soldiers since May 2004.
They also accuse Syria of allowing Sunni Arab extremists to cross its borders to join al-Qaeda-linked groups fighting in Iraq.
Officials of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government in turn accuse figures from the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia of funding Sunni insurgent groups. All five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — took part, along with the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Most were represented simply by their ambassadors in Iraq.
From the region Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey sent representatives.
The Iraqi foreign ministry, which is just outside the fortified Green Zone, was under tight security ahead of the conference, and sniffer dogs were sent into the building ahead of officials to check for bombs. The talks mark a shift in US policy, as President George W Bush has hitherto steadfastly refused to deal directly with Iran and Syria.
AFP
As mortar blasts and sporadic gunfire echoed around Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched talks with envoys from Middle Eastern states and from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
The embattled premier demanded that Iraq not be made a battlefield for a proxy war between regional powers — an implicit reference to the rivalry between Shi'ite Iran and Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbours.
"We wish to have our neighbours' support for confronting terrorism," said Maliki in his opening address to the assembled diplomats, warning that the violence gripping Iraq could spread throughout the region.
"The terrorism that today is trying to kill Iraqis in Baghdad, Hilla, Mosul and Anbar is the same as the terror that intimidated the population of Saudi Arabia, targeted the people of Egypt, attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and hit underground trains in Madrid and London.
"This is an international epidemic, the price of which is being paid by the people of Iraq, and our country is on the frontline of confrontation," he said.
"Confronting terrorism means halting any form of financial support and media or religious incitement, as well as logistical support and the provision of arms and men that will become explosive tools killing our children, women and elders, and bombing our mosques and churches.
Maliki demanded "that regional and international states refrain from interfering or influencing the Iraqi situation by supporting certain sects, nationalities or parties."
Following the opening address, envoys repaired for closed-door talks at which they were to discuss the drafting of a common statement and a date and a location for a follow-up meeting of higher-level ministers.
The meeting was expected to last one day.
US commanders accuse Iranian agents of smuggling weapons to Shi'ite militias in Iraq, including components for lethal roadside bombs that have been blamed for the deaths of at least 170 US soldiers since May 2004.
They also accuse Syria of allowing Sunni Arab extremists to cross its borders to join al-Qaeda-linked groups fighting in Iraq.
Officials of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government in turn accuse figures from the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia of funding Sunni insurgent groups. All five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — took part, along with the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Most were represented simply by their ambassadors in Iraq.
From the region Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey sent representatives.
The Iraqi foreign ministry, which is just outside the fortified Green Zone, was under tight security ahead of the conference, and sniffer dogs were sent into the building ahead of officials to check for bombs. The talks mark a shift in US policy, as President George W Bush has hitherto steadfastly refused to deal directly with Iran and Syria.
AFP
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