|
Iraqi diplomat to host counterparts
24.1.2007 |
|
|
|
January 24, 2007
ROME, -- Iraq's foreign minister said Tuesday
he will host a meeting of foreign ministers from
neighboring countries in Baghdad, saying it could
help change how these countries view the strife-torn
nation.
The meeting would mark "an important turning point
in these countries' vision of the situation in
Iraq," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said
following talks with his Italian counterpart. He did
not say when the meeting would happen or which
countries would participate.
Zebari, in Rome to sign a cooperation treaty with
Italy in such fields as education, the environment
and the judiciary, did not say if Iran or Syria
would attend the meetings. |
Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister |
Italian Premier Romano Prodi has said that both
those countries should be involved in talks if the
region is to be stabilized.
Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema reiterated in a
joint news conference with Zebari that "Iraq's
stability can be achieved through an active
participation by countries in the region to avoid
Iraq being seen ... as a battlefield."
U.S. officials have said Iran and Syria are
supporting the insurgency in Iraq and American
forces have twice detained Iranians in the war-torn
country. Iraq, however, has recently been making
overtures to its two large neighbors.
Zebari also defended the execution of Saddam Hussein
and other former Iraqi officials, which prompted
Italy to lead a push for a worldwide moratorium
against the death penalty.
"Iraq is going through extraordinary and exceptional
circumstances" Zebari said.
"We are looking forward to the day when there will
be no death penalty in Iraq," he said. But "we need
a strong deterrent" to stop people from killing
indiscriminately, he added.
Saddam's Dec. 30 execution was denounced across
Italy's political spectrum, with former premier and
conservative opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi
calling the killing a political error and Prodi
expressing concern that the hanging would fuel more
violence in Iraq.
After Saddam's execution, Prodi's center-left-government
began a diplomatic push to have the moratorium
initiative taken up by the U.N. General Assembly.
AP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 