Iraqi FM says neighbors'' meeting in Kwt "important" for his country
POL-OIC-MINISTERIAL-IRAQ
Iraqi FM says neighbors' meeting in Kwt "important" for his country
DAKAR, March 11 (KUNA) -- Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Tuesday that the expanded foreign ministers' meeting of states neighboring Iraq, which will be hosted by Kuwait in April, "is an important" event that would boost cooperation with these parties and further consolidate security in his country.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Preparatory Ministerial Meeting for the Islamic Summit Conference, he said the meeting, set to be held on April 22, would be attended by high-level international and Arab delegations.
Foreign ministers of the permanent member states of the UN Security Council, the G8, and representatives of international and regional organizations will be taking part, he said, as well as the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The last expanded meeting of Iraq's neighbors was held in Istanbul in November 2007, where participants discussed security in Iraq and other matters. Countries participating the meeting include Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Egypt.
On the preparatory meeting, he said the Muslim nations were facing "major challenges" that required a discussion of priorities and urgent issues such as improving the image of Islam, fighting extremism, and problems like poverty, education, and technology.
Zebari said the OIC needed to be "modernized" and this required more focused efforts to uphold its values.
Thus, he said that there were "three or four key issues" that needed to be emphasized, including the situations in the Palestinians territories and Lebanon, addressing Islamophobia, and improving Islam's image.
"I think Iraq has now gone down in the list of priorities thanks to the improvement in the security situation and the new, elected constitutional regime that has proven its ability to face all these challenges," he said.
He added, "I think now the sense is for all the Muslim countries to support the Iraqi government's efforts to stabilize the situation by reopening their missions and reaching out to Iraq because we have passed the test - many people thought that this new regime is there to go, but we have proven that it is there to stay." The foreign minister noted that there was an elaborate resolution on Iraq, which had obtained the consent of all the OIC members and stood by the country's elected constitutional government.
Also, he said the OIC pledged to open an office in Baghdad and called on all Muslim countries to reopen their diplomatic missions in the Iraqi capital.
"We are expecting in early April a delegation from OIC to visit Baghdad ... Iraq is a rich country, and what is important is the political outreach more than (financial) assistance," he added.
Asked about the Turkish operation against rebels of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Zebari said he had just held a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan in which they discussed the border issue.
"We hope that this will be the last military incursion into Iraqi territories. This issue of PKK terrorism needs to be addressed jointly and not unilaterally, because the unilateral use of military force can only complicate matters. This is the understanding that we have," the foreign minister said.
The Turkish Army had launched a land operation into northern Iraq on February 21 with the aim of wiping out PKK rebels, classified by Turkey, the EU and the US as a terrorist organization. Turkish troops withdrew February 29.
Zebari noted that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani had recently visited paid a "historic" visit last week to Turkey and held-high level talks with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul and Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying that this was a positive move toward "containing this tension between two Muslim neighboring countries." And on the presence of an American envoy at the summit and criticism that was raised by some Muslim countries over this issue, Zebari said, "The US is the biggest power and it has a problem of image in the Muslim world ... so if Russia can have an observer, then why not the US." US President George W. Bush had appointed in late February Sada Cumber as his country's first-ever envoy to the OIC, in an effort to clean up the tarnished US image in the Muslim world.
(end)
AI
