Kuwait conference communiqué stresses full support for Iraq in all fields

Prince Saud Alfaisal refers to Iraqi government seriousness to fight militias

Al-Maliki asks neighboring countries to write off debts, re-open embassies

Rice urges Iraq to activate national reconciliation

MOU between UAE, U.S. in peaceful nuclear energy sphere

Foreign ministers of Iraq, its neighboring countries and permanent UN Security Council (UNSC) members wrapped up a one-day meeting in Kuwait after stressing political and security improvements in Iraq.

Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Sabah and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari held a news conference to announce the final communiqué which was approved by the participants.

Key foreign ministers attending are U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, France's Bernard Kouchner, Britain's David Miliband, Iran's Manouchehr Mottaki and Syria's Walid Al-Muallem.

They discussed how to further control common borders between Iraq and its immediate neighbors, as well as backing the Baghdad government in its national conciliation quest.

Countries participating in the conference are the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Syria, Turkey, the US, the UK, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Sweden.

Also taking part are representatives of the UN, EU Presidency, NATO, the GCC, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Arab League.

The first expanded meeting was held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in May 2007, while the second was held in Istanbul, Turkey, in November of the same year.

During the closed-door meeting, the foreign ministers spoke about the developments in Iraq and how their countries see the situation there.

Iran's Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran was fully backing the Iraqi government's political and security efforts, but he blamed the foreign forces for the state of insecurity.

He called for transferring full responsibilities to the Iraqi government, noting that Iraq's neighboring countries should join hands to fighting terrorism, boosting stability and security.

Mottaki encouraged the reopening of diplomatic missions in Baghdad in order to back the political process and economic cooperation with the Iraqi government.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem, meanwhile, said the Iraqi people needed all possible support to improve their living conditions through boosting security and stability.

Although security have been reportedly improving in Iraq, he added, it remained temporal as long as it was not coupled with national conciliation.

The Arab League and the neighboring countries can help in the national conciliation in Iraq but at the same not interfering in its internal affairs, said Al-Muallem.

He said Syria was hosting around half of the Iraqi refugees, whose number amount to three million people. He added the US should be legally and morally responsible for the tough humanitarian conditions facing the Iraqi refugees.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Salahuddin Al-Bashir said the stability and security of Iraq was of great importance to the region.

Everybody was looking forward to see a united, strong and stable Iraq, he said.

Egyptian assistant foreign minister for Arab affairs Mohammad Baderuddin Zayed said Iraq has made large strides in the fight against terrorism and violence. He said building an Iraq for the future needed a sound political process and democratic institutions.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the European Union (EU) rotating presidency, reaffirmed support for neighboring countries process in backing Iraq.

"The EU reaffirms its strong support for the neighboring countries process and underlines the mutual benefits of continuing dialogue and co-operation between Iraq, its neighbors and the International Community," he said.

He said the EU encouraged the three working groups on refugees, security co-operation and energy to make further progress on technical co-operation.

"The EU urges all partners in the region to contribute to the political stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq by implementing commitments made during the neighbors' process and other mechanisms such as International Compact with Iraq and the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI); and through advancing discussions on the provision of debt relief.

Japan, meanwhile, said it provided a USD-350-million loan for water supply and sewerage facilities projects in Kurdistan Region and Baghdad. Japanese senior vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Itsunori Onodera said a USD-17-million aid was granted to Iraq last February, contributed to the construction of a maternity and children hospital in the city of Fallujah; one of Iraq's previously volatile areas that had dramatically improved regarding security.

A total of USD 2.1 billion is already provided by Japan to the process of reconstruction of Iraqi infrastructure among others, he concluded.

Organization of Islamic Conference's (OIC) secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who was attending the meeting, said the fact the OIC has opened an office in Baghdad three days ago coupled with the OIC-brokered Makkah Declaration Initiative was one of the positive contributions to preventing dangerous trend of sectarian rivalry in Iraq.

"We hope to be able to proceed from this new positive spirit to look into the ways and means of contributing more to the national reconciliation through strengthening the togetherness of the Sunnis and Shiites for working jointly for a stable, peaceful, democratic, prosperous and unified Iraq," he said.

In the final communiqué, foreign ministers or their representatives voiced backing to the Iraqi government for assisting vulnerable groups including the internally and externally displaced persons, and promoting protection of human rights, judicial and legal reforms.

They also commended the role of the Iraqi armed forces in confronting and deterring the recent threats posed by armed groups, and welcomed the Iraqi government's commitment to disarm and dismantle all militias and extra-governmental armed groups.

The delegations, showed the final communiqué, underlined importance of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) for the political reconciliation and reconstruction of Iraq.

They recognized role and potential of Iraq's neighboring countries in the construction of Iraq, and welcomed the decision of the Paris Club to write off part of debts on Iraq, and invited all creditors to Iraq to follow suit to contribute to reducing Iraq's debts.

The delegates to the conference hoped the next expanded conference be held in Baghdad

The final communiqué reaffirms respect of national unity, independence, full sovereignty, territorial integrity, Arab and Islamic identity of Iraq. The delegations said it was the right of the Iraqi people to freely determine their political system and political future, as well as controlling their natural resources.

They stressed importance to achieve national conciliation in Iraq, and called on the Arab League to continue cooperation with the Iraqi government and concerned parties in this direction.

They invited all components of the Iraqi people to work for the enhancement of national unity regardless of their political trends, and ethnic and sectarian affiliations.

They acknowledged the obligations of the Iraqi government and international community to protect and assist displaced Iraqis by addressing their immediate and foreseeable needs as well as safeguarding their safety.

There are over two million Iraqis displaced in Jordan and Syria alone.

The delegations, however, commended the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq's (UNAMI) important role in providing support, consultation, assistance and coordination with the Iraqi government in line with UN resolution 1770.

They encourage all states, particularly neighboring countries, to open or reopen their diplomatic missions and enhance those existing by raising level of representation.

The Iraqi government has been calling on Arab countries to reopen their embassies in Baghdad, but the Arab governments have been linking this move to improvement of security conditions.

The delegations to the neighbor’s conference, however, condemned all acts of aggression and war crimes of the former Iraqi regime against peoples of Iraq, Iran and State of Kuwait. They also condemned the killing of Kuwaiti war prisoners and nationals of other countries and the former Iraqi regime's coverage of these crimes for over 10 years.

They welcomed appointment of Ambassador Gennady Tarasov as UN High-Level coordinator who succeeded late Ambassador Yuli Voronstov, said the final communiqué.

They also condemned all acts of terrorism in Iraq and called for their immediate cessation.

The delegations, in this regard, supported the joint efforts of Iraq and its neighboring countries to prevent transit of terrorist and illegal arms to and from Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said Iraq has been making progress at the security and political fronts, but asserted that some parties were still interfering in Iraq's internal affairs, while urging debtors to ease their debts on Iraq.

Addressing the opening session of the Conference, Al-Maliki said he found it strange that Arab brothers were reluctant to re-establish diplomatic representations in Iraq.

"We have made tangible progress in enforcing security in Baghdad in which it succeeded in implementing the Law Enforcement plan," and life returned to normal in many areas, said Al-Maliki.

Al-Maliki said his government has been pursuing outlaws in all governorates, recently in Basra, in a bid to eliminate Al-Qaeda militants and elements of the former Iraqi regime.

He noted that the Iraqi political parties have shown backing to the Baghdad government to confronting terrorists and disarming militia, and said his government was serious in its national conciliation quest because it would get the country out of limbo.

"We are backing all these efforts through dialogues with all those interested in entering the political process but on condition of dropping of arms ... Our hands are stretched for those wishing to participate," he said.

Al-Maliki said his country has got rid of dictatorship and was thus ready to play a role boosting regional security and stability, defusing tension and conflicts in Iraq and the entire region.

"The new Iraq is not the Iraq of yesterday which triggered conflicts and wars, and assault its neighbors, but a united, democratic and multi-party country keen on establishing good relations with all countries around the world ... based on non-interference in internal affairs," he asserted.

But the "policies of interference in our internal affairs did not stop and their effects are clear in fueling violence politically and financially and via media ... as well as via training of terrorists," he said.

Terrorists target all faiths, ethnics and countries, and they work on fueling sedition and instability.

"We call on all neighboring countries to boost security measures on common borders to stop infiltration of terrorists into our territories," he said

AL-Maliki, meanwhile, said the Iraqi government was suffering from "reckless" policies of the ex-Baathist regime and has this piled up debts on Iraq, caused devastating destruction for the country's infrastructure, the educational and health sectors.

"Our people is looking forward to removing heavy debts," largely caused by an eight-year war initiated by the former regime in Baghdad against Iran and its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, he said.

He noted that promises to write off the debts by "our brothers" did not materialize, while at the same time many countries which have no common historical and cultural links with Iraq have erased the debts.

"Writing off the debts and stopping compensations on Iraq will give a positive signal to the Iraqi people that there is a genuine desire to helping them overcome crises," said Al-Maliki.

Al-Maliki thanked the government of Kuwait for hosting the conference, and His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah for their support.

At the diplomatic front, Al-Maliki said it was strange that Arab brothers were hesitant to re-establish diplomatic representation in Iraq. "This is an initiative we expected time ago but did not materialize although Western countries have kept their diplomatic missions in Baghdad and did not give any security pretexts," added the Prime Minister.

"Diplomatic openness and exchanging diplomatic representation is not only serving the interests of Iraq but contribute to strengthening security and stability, and economic development for the peoples and countries in the region," he said.

Al-Maliki called anew on the countries to honor their pledges to help the Iraqi government in rebuilding the country, and providing good circumstances for the Iraqi refugees and facilitate their return to their country.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said that the Ministerial Conference on Countries Neighboring Iraq reflects Arab concern over the war-torn country.

He said in a statement the conference is to highlight and give a detailed assessment of the situation in Iraq from different perspectives, underlining the Arab League's commitment to reach positive solutions between the various Iraqi factions.

On the proposal made by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to increase Arab diplomatic representation in the country, Moussa said that Arab states hold great significance to the issue.

Furthermore, he said that Arab leaders in the past have stated that lack of security in Iraq is the only reason preventing their governments from reopening their embassies, he said, and that the Arab League already has an office in Baghdad, which is to be issued with a representative shortly.

He expressed hope, that this conference would give a great opportunity to achieve Iraqi reconciliation, especially following the reformation of its government, military, and security forces, which presents concerned countries with a state of tranquility.

He added that the Arab League has imposed resolutions calling for the disarmament and disband of all armed militias without discrimination.

Moussa also stressed great significance of direct dialogue with Iran, and said that the Iraqi Neighbors conference will insure this, tending to the equal interests of both regions.

Finally, the Secretary General condemned Israel's policy towards Gaza, saying that it does not offer a chance for peace, and has destroys all hope.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, making an unannounced stop in Baghdad, praised the Iraqi government's decision to take on Shiite militia members in Basra and in Baghdad and painted an upbeat picture of the Iraqi government's progress toward unifying the country.

Rice, who visited the Iraqi capital on her way to a conference of Iraq's neighbors in Kuwait, said that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government "has made a choice to pursue militias and is willing to bear the consequences."

Conceding that it had been "a long five years" since the U.S.-led invasion, Rice said that Iraq had made "significant progress, remarkable progress," however fragile, and she quoted President Jalal Talabani, who had said that the country was experiencing "a political spring."

As rockets and mortars crashed into the fortified Green Zone, Rice met with Al-Maliki, Talabani and other government leaders, then spoke briefly at the U.S. Embassy and dedicated a plaque there to commemorate two embassy employees killed in rocket attacks on the zone.

The Iraqi leaders, Rice said at a news conference later, gave her "quite a lot of advice" about upcoming meetings.

"Iraqi leaders believe that they have made some tough choices and some tough decisions," she said, "and they want that acknowledged and they want to move forward with their Arab neighbors."

She played down recent violence in various parts of Iraq, saying that there would be days when "extremists manage, despite the fact they clearly are weakened," to conduct suicide bombings and other attacks. But she said that some of the violence had been a byproduct of the Iraqi government's "very good decision" to try to wrest the southern port city of Basra from the control of Shiite militias.

Rice's brief visit was not announced in advance in keeping with security precautions adopted by all top U.S. officials. She was accompanied by the top U.S. ground commander, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker during the visit.

Rice said that she was not sure how to interpret a statement by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr that he would declare "war until liberation" if the fighting against his militia forces continued. Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters have been battling Iraqi and U.S. forces in Baghdad's Sadr City slum and in Basra.

"I don't know whether to take him seriously or not," Rice said.

She added: "I know he's sitting in Iran. I guess it's all-out war for anybody but him. I guess that's the message: His followers can go to their deaths and he's in Iran."

In Manama, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa received Jordan's King Abdullah where they discussed means of boosting bilateral relationships and current Arab cases, including Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq.

In Tehran, , Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili in a meeting with Oman’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi said cordial ties with the Persian Gulf neighbors is a declared foreign policy goal of the government.

He urged the neighboring Arab states to do their fair share in preventing foreigners from creating tension in the already troubled region.

Jalili emphasized that the presence of foreign militaries in the oil-rich region is the root cause of crisis visiting acing the littoral states.

Referring to huge economic, political, trade and security potential of the Gulf states, he said meaningful expansion of “cooperation among neighbors would benefit the region as a whole.”

Alawi for his part called for further expansion of relations between the two friendly nations.

Praising Iran’s key role in promoting security and stability in the region, he acknowledged that Tehran plays a key role in resolving tensions in this part of the world.

UAE Foreign Minister HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, signed in Bahrain a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Commenting on the signing of MoU, Sheikh Abdullah said that "the UAE-US MoU represents an excellent example of cooperation the UAE hopes to forge with responsible nuclear supplier states in the area of peaceful nuclear energy. There are potential mutual benefits to both parties from deepening cooperation in the development of the UAE's domestic nuclear energy sector." The Foreign Minister further welcomed the prospect of negotiating a more extensive bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation (known as Section 123 Agreement in the United States), which would establish the necessary legal basis for trade in significant nuclear commodities between the two countries.

The signing follows the public launch of the detailed policy document by the UAE on the evaluation and potential development of peaceful nuclear energy within the UAE. The UAE policy in this respect is based upon the principles of complete operational transparency and the highest standards of safety, security and non-proliferation. It also contains a number of commitments and strategies designed to ensure that these principles would be upheld by any UAE domestic nuclear program, including a pledge to forego any domestic enrichment or reprocessing capability in favor of long-term external fuel supply arrangements.

Additionally the UAE policy calls for close and continuous coordination with the IAEA, as well as cooperation with the governments and firms of responsible nuclear supplier nations.

Sheikh Abdullah presented to his US counterpart a diplomatic note endorsing the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.

The United Arab Emirates is the 67th nation to join the Initiative, which is an action-oriented, flexible network of partner nations working to address all aspects of the nuclear terrorism threat, including deterrence, denial, detection, material confiscation, and response.