BRUSSELS, June 22: The United States and the European Union on Wednesday rallied global support for Iraq’s quest for recovery and pressed Baghdad to ensure that Sunnis helped shape the country’s future.
At an international conference in Brussels, Prime Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari appealed for help to fight the resistance and to rebuild his country.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attacked Syria for failing to stop guerillas crossing its border into Iraq and, despite violence which has killed over 1,000 Iraqis and 120 troops since April, insisted Iraq was ‘well on the way to democracy’.
“This is certain to be an Iraq which, unlike the Iraq of Saddam, is likely to be a stabilizing force in the region,” she told a news conference after the meeting attended by some 80 nations and organizations.
A final communique urged Baghdad to ‘intensify efforts to engage all parties renouncing violence in the political process’, and Iraqi officials renewed pledges that a constitution due by Aug 15 would try to embrace all Iraqis.
“This country belongs to all. No one wants to marginalize any one section in Iraq,” said Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari.
Most of the Sunnis boycotted the Jan 30 elections. Shias and Kurds dominate the transitional government in Baghdad.
The panel charged with drafting a constitution for Iraq agreed last week to raise Sunni numbers in the body _ a move welcomed as a first step by conference participants.
The joint EU-US event is a product of President George Bush’s trip to Europe in February to mend ties after the transatlantic rift sparked by the Iraq invasion.
DEBT RELIEF: Iraq’s Al Qaeda group, led by Abu Musab al Zarqawi, denounced the meeting, saying: “The enemies of God gather at the conference in Brussels to destroy Iraq, not to build it.”
US and European leaders kept a lid on tensions over the Iraq conflict. “Iraqis need our solidarity,” French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said, announcing a French offer to train several dozen Iraqi police officials in Paris.
The meeting explored practical ways the world could help Iraq, but left detailed decisions on aid to a donors’ meeting scheduled for the Jordanian capital, Amman, next month.
The communique urged all nations to boost diplomatic ties with Iraq. Jordan and Egypt promised to send ambassadors soon.—Reuters