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Iraqi Parliament speaker arrives in
Kurdistan to attend APU conference
10.3.2008
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March 10, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan Region 'Iraq',--
Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani
arrived in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan
Region, to attend the Arab Parliamentary Union (APU)
conference, scheduled for March 11.
"We are meeting in Erbil just like we are meeting in
Baghdad. The hosting of this conference on the lands
of the Iraqi Kurdistan region sends a clear message
to whoever has doubts about a unified Iraq,"
Mashhadani told VOI.
"The conference is a genuinely legitimate step that
paves the way for Iraq to return to the Arab and
Islamic fold. It indicates that the new Iraq
is rising again with bonds of fraternity,"
Mashhadani, who arrived in Erbil along with his two
deputies, Khaled al-Aatiya and Aref Tayfour, said. |
Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani |
Erbil, 349 km northeast
of Baghdad, is hosting the APU conference starting
on March 11 with the participation of 19 Arab
countries.
On the countries that would not attend the
conference, like Comoros, Djibouti and Mauritania,
Mashhadani replied that they would not participate
in the event "due to financial and economic
problems."
An official on Saturday said that nineteen out of 22
Arab countries will take part in the APU conference,
to be held under the auspices of Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani.
"Three countries announced they would not attend the
conference: Somalia, Comoros and Libya," Nour al-Din
Boushkog, the APU Secretary General, said in a press
conference on Saturday.
"Libya's position regarding the Iraqi Kurdistan is
positive and a Libyan official would pay a visit to
the (autonomous) region soon," said Boushkog,www.ekurd.net
adding he was still
having contacts with Libyan officials to persuade
them to participate in the meeting. Boushkog had
said last week that he believed Arab presence in the
conference would be at a "very good level."
The APU secretary general, a Moroccan, had arrived
in Arbil last week to check preparations for the
coming meeting on March 11-13.
Established in June 1974 with the aim of
consolidating joint Arab action and solidarity, the
APU is an organization representing Arab parliaments
and shura (consultative) councils.
VOI
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