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Iraq says Arab neighbours start to accept it is 'here to stay'
2008-04-22
Iraq said on Tuesday its Sunni Arab neighbours are starting to accept the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, as they praised its crackdown on militias after the United States lobbied for their support. "I think there is a mood in the Arab world and in the region that this new Iraqi democratic regime is here to stay," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters during a conference in Kuwait aimed at reintegrating Iraq with its neighbours. "Secondly, they are realising that the fear of Iraq being dragged into a civil war is over, of Iraq being dragged into a sectarian war is over, Iraq being deliberately divided is over," Zebari said. "All these are very encouraging signs," he said. "We need to be patient." Zebari made his remarks while meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who urged Arab states to seize a "moment of opportunity" presented by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's crackdown on the militia of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. She called for them to support an emerging "non-sectarian Iraq." Since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Sunni leader Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Arab neighbours have been wary not only about violence there but also about backing a government tilted toward non-Arab Shiite Iran. In a speech to dispel suspicions, Maliki told the conference of Iraq's neighbours and world powers: "I am carrying the message of all constituents that Iraq has overcome its crisis and divisions and the will of its people has been united. "Our hands are still extended to all who believe in building an Iraq in which religious, ethnic and party freedoms are respected." In remarks to the conference, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal praised the Iraqi government's "firmness" in combating militias, but stressed that the "relative improvement in security should be reinforced by completing the political process." In an apparent reference to Iran, Saud complained about "continued foreign interference" in Iraq "through presenting financial and military assistance to some militias and parties." In a statement after the meeting, the participants hailed Maliki for cracking down on militias. "The participants applaud the continuous efforts by the Iraqi government to confront those who foment violence throughout Iraq," it said. Participants "welcome the government's commitment to disarm and dismantle all militias and extra-governmental armed groups, enforcing the rule of law and ensuring the state's monopoly on armed forces." Recognising the "improvement of the security situation in Iraq," Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah said the next meeting of neighbours and world powers would be held in Baghdad. He did not give a date for the meeting, which would be the fourth of its kind. Maliki also appealed to Sunni-led Arab states to help stabilise Iraq by forgiving his country's debt, wiping clean war reparations and reopening embassies in Baghdad. "We are still waiting for implementing pledges and commitments made to waive loans and compensation," he said. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said later that Iraq officially called on Gulf states to waive tens of billions of dollars in compensation for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. "We have asked that the reparations be cancelled or at least reduced," Dabbagh told reporters. Iraq is required to pay five percent of its oil revenue into a fund created by the UN Security Council following the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam's forces in August 1990 to pay compensation for war damage. The UN compensation fund has received claims worth 354 billion dollars, but has so far approved just over 52 billion dollars, of which around 45 billion dollars are for Kuwait. The fund has paid out more than 21 billion dollars, around 11 billion dollars of it for Kuwait. But Kuwait's foreign minister later told reporters that "compensations have been decided through UN Security Council resolutions and should be left to the council." Rice, who paid a surprise visit to Baghdad on Sunday, urged Arab states to ease Iraq's debts and send ambassadors to Baghdad. But she came away with no firm commitments during talks with them in Bahrain on Monday, and no concrete decisions were announced in Kuwait either. The Kuwait conference was attended by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, but Rice had said she had no plans for a meeting. Mottaki denied that his country, whose controversial nuclear drive has sparked a standoff with Washington, was helping Shiite militias in Iraq. Rice has accused Iran of contradicting its stated aim of stabilising Iraq by arming the militias.
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