Iraq says Baghdad conference a success

BAGHDAD – Iraq signalled that world powers and neighbouring countries, including Washington and its adversaries Iran and Syria, had agreed in Baghdad it was vital to all to stop sectarian violence spreading in the region.

But while US President George W Bush on Saturday ordered 4 400 more US troops to be sent to Iraq on top of a force build-up he has already authorised, Iran called for the withdrawal of all US forces on grounds they fuelled violence. After Saturday’s Baghdad talks between senior officials, the United States said Turkey had offered to host a planned follow-up ministerial-level conference in April and that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would attend the meeting.Two mortar bombs exploded near the Baghdad conference building shortly after the talks began.Elsewhere in the capital, a suicide car bomber killed six Iraqi soldiers and wounded about 20 in yet another day of violence.Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged other countries in the oil-rich region to stop supporting insurgents and do all they could to help Baghdad, saying it was in everyone’s interest to stop sectarian bloodletting from spilling over Iraq’s borders.”The meeting was constructive and positive in fact in its atmosphere and the composition,” Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told a news conference.He said committees had been set up to cover security, refugees and fuel and power.Iraq, which called the Baghdad talks, has been plagued by a Sunni Arab insurgency almost since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.The country’s minority Sunnis were dominant under Saddam.But mounting sectarian violence between Sunnis and majority Shi’ite Muslims has become a major issue since the bombing of a Shi’ite shrine a year ago.Since 2003 tens of thousands have been killed and some 2 million driven abroad.”No country represented at the table would benefit from a disintegrated Iraq.Indeed, all would suffer badly,” the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters.Khalilzad said he had talked directly to Iranian delegates as well as in a group setting but the top Iranian official said he had had no one-to-one talks with US officials.Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said the talks had been constructive.Nampa-ReutersAfter Saturday’s Baghdad talks between senior officials, the United States said Turkey had offered to host a planned follow-up ministerial-level conference in April and that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would attend the meeting.Two mortar bombs exploded near the Baghdad conference building shortly after the talks began.Elsewhere in the capital, a suicide car bomber killed six Iraqi soldiers and wounded about 20 in yet another day of violence.Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged other countries in the oil-rich region to stop supporting insurgents and do all they could to help Baghdad, saying it was in everyone’s interest to stop sectarian bloodletting from spilling over Iraq’s borders.”The meeting was constructive and positive in fact in its atmosphere and the composition,” Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told a news conference.He said committees had been set up to cover security, refugees and fuel and power.Iraq, which called the Baghdad talks, has been plagued by a Sunni Arab insurgency almost since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.The country’s minority Sunnis were dominant under Saddam.But mounting sectarian violence between Sunnis and majority Shi’ite Muslims has become a major issue since the bombing of a Shi’ite shrine a year ago.Since 2003 tens of thousands have been killed and some 2 million driven abroad.”No country represented at the table would benefit from a disintegrated Iraq.Indeed, all would suffer badly,” the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters.Khalilzad said he had talked directly to Iranian delegates as well as in a group setting but the top Iranian official said he had had no one-to-one talks with US officials.Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said the talks had been constructive.Nampa-Reuters