Kuwait - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is seeking
to entice Arab states to strengthen ties with his country, told a
regional meeting held in Kuwait Tuesday that Iraq has overcome
divisions and entered a new phase of unity.
The meeting in Kuwait of Iraq's neighbouring countries as well as
key regional and international powers is a follow-on from two
conferences on Iraq held last year in Egypt and Turkey.
Iraq now, said al-Maliki, is better than it was when the two
conferences were held in Sharm el-Sheikh and Istanbul.
The prime minister credited the improvement to his government's
efforts to promote national reconciliation and upgrade the
capabilities of the Iraqi army as well as the growing cooperation
between the people and security bodies.
Surveying the achievements of his government since he took office
in May 2006, al-Maliki spoke of successful security crackdowns in
restive provinces, such as Anbar and Basra.
A similar offensive is in the offing in the northern Nineveh
province, the premier said.
Iraq, backed by the US, is trying to persuade Arab countries to
open embassies in Baghdad. The issue was discussed at a meeting of
eight Arab foreign ministers and the US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice in Bahrain Monday.
Rice and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari pressed hard for
Gulf Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan to give more political and
economic backing to Baghdad.
'A number of countries around the table talked about their desire
to have permanent representatives in Baghdad,' Rice said after the
meeting.
Rice and Zebari, however, hinted at their frustration with
inaction on pledges made by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait to open
diplomatic missions in Iraq.
Arab countries are said to be unhappy with the government of
Shiite al-Maliki, whose efforts in bridging sectarian and ethnic
divisions are perceived as not earnest, analysts think.
There are other reasons for Arab unease. The Jordanian embassy in
Baghdad was bombed in 2003 and Egypt's ambassador there was abducted
and killed two years later.
Violence in Iraq has recently risen although it ebbed
significantly over the past year, which is another reason for Arab
reluctance to activate their diplomatic ties with Baghdad.
Participants at the Kuwait conference, however, are expected to
back the Iraqi's government's crackdown on Shiite militias and
efforts to enforce the rule of law.
Debt relief will also be a central topic with Rice and al-Maliki
expected to urge the writing off of debts owed by Iraq mainly to
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Much of Iraq's debt has been forgiven by international creditors
and the bulk of the remaining 67 billion dollars is owed to those
Gulf Arab countries.
Rice said the terms of cancelling some of the debts had long been
known and 'it is just a matter of getting the negotiations done.'
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