Int'l, regional support vital for Iraq-U.N. chief
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Cairo, 05 May 2007 (Voices of Iraq)
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U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon reiterated on Friday the U.N. commitment to support Iraq in different domains, underlining that dialogue must lead the way, noting that the international and regional support is vital for the war-ravaged country.
Addressing the Iraq's neighboring countries conference, hosted by the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Ban Ki-Moon underlined the international organization's commitment to offering further political and humanitarian support to the Iraqi people.
Arms cannot alone ensure security in Iraq, he noted.
Ki-Moon called on the Iraqi people to work to achieve national reconciliation and tone down sectarian violence.
He also urged the international community to live up to its responsibilities to achieve peace and stability in Iraq.
The U.N. top diplomat appreciated the stands of Jordanian and Syrian governments for supporting and hosting Iraqi refugees.
The situation in the Middle East is, according to U.N. chief, dangerous and complicated, especially as Iraq is not on good terms with some of its neighbors.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa expressed in his speech before the meeting his organization's condemnation over what he termed as "the black terrorism".
"We strongly denounced these acts and we called for ending Iraqis' bloodshed and respecting Iraq's unity and territorial integrity," Moussa said.
The AL chief said Iraq's stability is important for a stable Middle East.
According to Moussa, achieving stability in Iraq entails a political solution that goes hand in hand with security. It is not the responsibility of the Iraqi government alone, he said though, adding that constitutional institutions were also to be questioned about stability in the war-torn country.
Amending the constitution of Iraq, emphasizing on the citizenship as a base for building a new Iraq, distributing Iraq's wealth fairly and holding the comprehensive accordance conference as soon as possible are important factors in a stable Iraq, he also said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abo al-Gheit opened the Iraq's neighboring countries conference earlier on Friday.
He said in his speech that Iraq's territorial integrity would guarantee the country's security and stability, adding all attempts to divide it will be "doomed to failure".
A plenary ministerial meeting on Iraq had started on Friday morning in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had called for "preventing terrorist organizations from entering Iraqi territories and denying these groups access to financial and arms supplies."
Maliki said one of the largest achievements of the national reconciliation process adopted by his government was the activities of the clans in the "hot western province of al-Anbar to confront members of the al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq," which have been recently active there.
The session is attended by Egyptian, Bahrain, the G-8 countries and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council as well as the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
Sources close to the meeting said a final statement is expected to be issued on Friday evening demanding neighboring countries and the international community to "respect the unified federal democratic independent state of Iraq and respect the principles of equal citizenship rights."
Sharm el-Sheikh had hosted on Thursday the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) conference in which the participants endorsed the initiative offering a framework aimed at achieving stability and prosperity within five years.
Int'l, regional support vital for Iraq-U.N. chief | Iraq Updates