|
Iraqi leaders meet to launch
reconciliation effort
20.11.2005
|
|
|
|
19 Nov (RFE/RL) - The
leaders of Iraq's fractious political scene have
begun three days of talks in Cairo on reconciliation
and the stabilization of their war-torn country.
The gathering got off to a rocky start, however,
when Shi'ite and Kurdish delegates briefly stormed
out on the first day after being accused by one
participant of being "American stooges." They later
returned after receiving an apology.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Ja'fari called on all
sides to demonstrate "goodwill towards achieving
positive results."
Meanwhile, the Arab League, which is sponsoring the
U.S.-backed session, warned against expecting a
breakthrough.
The talks are aimed at laying groundwork for an
Iraqi reconciliation conference in early 2006.
Although expectations are not high, the three-day
talks could provide an opportunity for Iraqi
politicians to start talking with one another and to
seek compromises among the country's feuding
communities.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak opened the
conference by calling national reconciliation the
key to a successful transition in Iraq. He called
for engaging all "sons of Iraq" in the process.
However, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said that
national unity cannot include "followers of the old
regime" and religious extremists.
Arab League Involvement
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa invited about
100 Iraqi leaders to the gathering. Eight Arab
foreign ministers, members of a special working
group on Iraq, will attend the weekend meeting,
along with envoys from the United States, Europe,
Iran and the United Nations.
Yahia Said, a researcher on Iraq and other
transitional nations at the London School of
Economics, said it is important for the Arab League
to appear to become more involved in building
reconciliation in Iraq.
"It is a positive engagement of the Arab league
after a period when it was reluctant to engage with
Iraq and its is addressing the most important
issues, which are issues of national reconciliation,
of trying to bring at least some of the
nationalists, insurgents back into the political
process," Said said. "But, of course, any such
reconciliation will entail concessions from those
who are currently in power, from those who are
currently in the lead."
Reluctant Partners?
Although leaders of Iraq's Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim
and Kurdish factions gathered in Cairo, Abd al-Aziz
al-Hakim, the leader of Iraq's largest Shi'ite
political party, declined to attend the meeting. He
sent a low-level delegation instead.
Said called that a clear indication that the current
leaders of the country are not inclined to promise
any compromises in Cairo.
"The ultimate outcome of a conference like that, if
it is to be effective, are some concessions from
those who are in power now but obviously they are
not keen to make any concessions," Said said. "And
therefore you see their lack of enthusiasm. Clearly
there hasn't been sufficient pressure on them and
they are not feeling that they should make any
concessions. They feel that what they have achieved
in the constitution and in the elections are gains
that they have deserved."
Radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is not
attending the event, but also sent a delegation.
The U.S. administration has lobbied Iraq's Arab
neighbors to support the conference, which is aimed
at persuading Iraq's Sunni Arab minority to join the
political process and find accommodation with the
country's Shi'ite Muslims and ethnic Kurds.
Shi'ites have been skeptical of the conference from
the start and have strongly opposed participation by
Sunni Arab officials from the regime of former
leader Saddam Hussein or from pro-insurgency groups.
Musa traveled to Iraq in October -- his first visit
since Saddam Hussein was ousted in early 2003 -- and
encountered sharp criticism from Shi'ite leaders,
who said the Arab League was acting too late to help
in the Iraqi conflict and had failed to condemn
attacks by Sunni-led insurgents.
On The Agenda
At the three-day conference, Sunni leaders were
expected to press ahead with demands that the
Shi'ite-dominated government agree to a timetable
for the withdrawal of the foreign troops and
amendments to the constitution, which was ratified
in October.
Said said major compromises may come only through
political process and elections.
"Maybe the situation will be different after the
elections," Said said. "You keep in mind that this
is a preparatory conference. This is not the main
thing. This is about organizing a larger conference
in January after the elections."
Participants were also expected to tackle the issue
of who would take part in the full reconciliation
conference in 2006.
www.rferl.org
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 