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U.S., Iran, Syria meet in Baghdad on Iraq stability
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Last update - 17:47 10/03/2007
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By News Agencies</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>An unprecedented conference opened in Baghdad on Saturday in order to discuss ways to stabilize sectarian violence in Iraq. The conference was attended by representatives from regional states, including Iran and Syria, as well as the five permanent UN Security Council members.
The meet marks the first time in two years that Iran and the United States have sat down together.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged regional rivals to stop using Iraq as a battlefield to fight out their proxy wars, and entreated conference participants to adopt a firm stand against terrorism in Iraq and stop playing out their differences in his country.
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</TD><TD class=t9></TD></TR><TR><TD align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The sectarian violence has racked Iraq, killed tens of thousands and driven some 2 million abroad since the U.S.-led invasion four years ago that toppled former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Shortly after the meeting started, two mortar rounds, crashed near the conference venue around lunchtime, and a car bomb in the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City miles away from the Foreign Ministry killed 20 people and wounded dozens, police said.
Besides finding ways to stop the bloodshed, the one-day meeting is also seen as a rare opportunity to bring Iran and the United States together, despite the fact that the two countries have clearly expressed their disapproval of each other.
"We call on all to take moral responsibility by adopting a strong and clear stance against terrorism in Iraq and cooperate in stamping out forces of terror," Maliki said, according to the text of his speech to the opening session of the conference.
He did not pick out any country individually but the United States has accused Iran and Syria of fomenting violence in Iraq and supplying weapons and support for militant groups, charges both countries deny. Delegates from all three countries attended the conference.
"We ... demand that regional or international states refrain from interfering or influencing the Iraqi state of affairs through supporting a certain sect, ethnicity or party," he said.
The Shiite prime minister said national reconciliation between Iraq's Shiite and Sunni factions was the only way to spare his country from sliding into all-out civil war and prevent the conflict from spreading beyond Iraqi borders.
"The reconciliation initiative is the ship that will save us," Maliki added. "Iraq, with its strategic location, must be seen as a key factor and an important player in the regional and international field."
The conference brought together mid-level officials from Iraq's neighbors, the permanent UN Security Council members - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - and Arab countries. There were 16 delegations in all.
Maliki also called on officials from regional and world powers to pursue dialogue to settle disputes over Iraq.
"We call for peaceful dialogue to settle disputes, including the international, regional, inter-regional issues," he said, adding that Iraq was ready to play a positive role in finding a solution to such disputes.
In his speech, Maliki also demanded to see a "unified regional and international stand in support of the Iraqi people ... with no distinction along sectarian lines."
"Our meeting with you today in Baghdad demonstrates support for the Iraqi people and Iraq's national unity government in our effort to confront all forms of terrorism in the country."
"We also wish to have our neighbors' support for confronting terrorism and look forward to more active international cooperation in reconstruction and development."
After Maliki's speech the delegates met behind closed doors for sessions expected to last most of the day.
Attention was also focused on the United States sitting down with Syria and Iran, both accused by Washington of fuelling the Iraq war by supporting either Sunni insurgents or Shiite militias. Iran and Syria deny the charges.
U.S., Iran delegates spar over detainees
U.S. and Iranian delegates to the conference in Baghdad sparred over the fate of five Iranians detained by U.S. forces earlier this year who Tehran says are diplomats.
The conference was a rare opportunity for officials from Washington and Tehran to sit down at the same table at a time of tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions. There was no immediate information on whether they had held bilateral talks.
Washington has led international efforts to impose tougher sanctions on Iran over its refusal to stop enriching uranium, which could be used for nuclear weapons, and has accused Iran of backing Shi'ite militias in southern Iraq. Tehran denies both.
A source at the multilateral talks said Iranian delegates used the forum to demand the release of several Iranians captured by U.S. forces in Iraq in recent months.
U.S. soldiers seized five men Tehran says are diplomats in a raid on an Iranian government office in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on Jan. 11.
The raid came hours after U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to crack down on what he called the "flow of support" from Iran to Iraqi militants. The arrests were the second such incident in a month.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, in a speech at the conference, urged Iraq's neighbours and other world powers to do more to help Iraq. Apparently responding to the Iranian concerns about the detainees, Khalilzad said: "The Coalition does not have anyone in detention who is a diplomat."
"The U.S. and Coalition forces will continue to take appropriate steps under our mandate to protect Iraq's citizens, and our soldiers, from foreign elements who are contributing to violence in Iraq," he said.
The Iranian delegation arrived in the conference hall and took their seats without making any direct contact with U.S. delegates shortly before the meeting officially opened.
The flags of the delegations were arrayed on the podium of the conference hall, the Stars and Stripes of America next to Russia's flag, a discreet distance from those of Iran and Syria.
President George W. Bush said the U.S. message to Damascus and Tehran would be clear at Saturday's conference - to help Iraq's "young democracy."
The United States would "defend ourselves and the people in Iraq from weapons shipped in to cause harm", he added.
While the conference seeks ways to provide regional support for the Iraqi government, it comes against a background of increasing U.S.-Iranian tension over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Washington has led international efforts to impose tougher sanctions on Iran over its refusal to stop enriching uranium, which could be used for nuclear weapons, and has accused Iran of backing Shiite militias in southern Iraq. Tehran denies both.
Washington, which has no diplomatic relations with Iran, has had contacts with Iranian officials in group settings, including as recently as September, but has resisted bilateral talks.
The United States has diplomatic relations with Syria but withdrew its ambassador to Damascus in early 2005 and has not had high-level contacts for the past two years.
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7th March 2007
