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Iraq the talk of the
neighborhood
By K Gajendra Singh
A fortnight after heads of the 57-nation
Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) met in Malaysia,
where the situation in Iraq and the Israel-Palestinian
conflict were the main subjects of discussion, a select
band of foreign ministers gathered in Damascus this week
to confer on an issue very close to all of them - their
neighbor Iraq.
The gathering was called by Syria
to discuss the critical situation in Iraq and to obtain
some kind of assurances against constant threats from
the United States administration about regime change
beyond Iraq, and to discuss the current situation in
Iraq and its repercussions on the Arab, regional and
international situation.
The Damascus meeting on
November 1-2 was attended by those countries most
affected by the US-led invasion of Iraq, including the
host, Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara of Syria, as well
as Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Marwan al-Muasher of
Jordan, Kamal Kharazi of Iran, Ahmad Maher of Egypt,
Abdullah Gul of Turkey and Mohammed Salem al-Sabah of
Kuwait. This mini-Muslim meet ironically comprised
nations generally mostly distrustful of each other, with
their own underlying tensions and problems.
At a
press conference after the meeting, al-Shara described
the deliberations as "important and positive", stressing
that the final statement they had agreed on expressed a
common understanding among the participating foreign
ministers.
The day after the foreign ministers'
meeting, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak was in Damascus
for a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to
pledge Cairo's support for Damascus against what he
termed "provocations", according to Egyptian Information
Minister Safwat al-Sharif . "Egypt's constant position
is to stand alongside Syria, which is facing
provocations." It is an axiom in the region that one can
not have a war against Israel without Egypt, nor peace
without Syria.
Mubarak discussed Israel's
"threats against Syria" as well as "the means to avoid
escalating the tension" between the two countries. On
October 5, Israel bombed what it said was a training
camp near Damascus used by the Palestinian group Islamic
Jihad, following a devastating suicide bombing in Haifa.
Apart from the situation in the Israeli-occupied
Palestinian territories, the two presidents also
discussed the situation in Iraq and reviewed "measures
that should be taken in the future to safeguard the
unity" of that country, said al-Sharif, who accompanied
Mubarak to Damascus.
The following are some of
the points made in the final statement of the foreign
ministers released by Syria's al-Shara: The foreign
ministers invited their counterpart of the Iraqi
Transitional Government, but they did not receive an
answer. They stressed the "importance of supporting
Iraqi unity and integrity according to UN Security
Council resolution No 1511 and expressed full solidarity
with the Iraqi people in their plight due to the
dangerous deterioration of security, economic and living
situation".
They stressed their "rejection of
any procedures that lead to the division of Iraq", and
asserted respect to Iraqi unity and sovereignty and
adherence "to not interfere in the internal affairs of
Iraq". They stressed the right of the Iraqi people to
exercise their political self-determination, asserting
the importance of enhancing the pivotal role of the
United Nations in Iraq, particularly in supervision in
forming a constitution, holding elections, putting up a
timetable to end occupation and accelerating the
transfer of authority to Iraqis.
They condemned
"terrorist explosions that target civilians, religious
and humanitarian establishments, international
organizations and diplomatic delegations in Iraq", and
called on the Iraqi authorities to bear responsibility,
asking their representative at the UN to make contact
with the UN to act in supporting security and stability
in Iraq. The statement said that Israel had misused
regional developments and assumed an aggressive attitude
against Syria, and expressed full solidarity with
Syria's national stance. They agreed on continuing
consultations and contacts until restoration of Iraqi
unity and integrity.
It was decided that the
next meeting would be held in Kuwait at a date to be
announced. Following the meeting, President Bashar
al-Assad of Syria met with all the foreign ministers,
but no statement was issued about these meetings.
It has been noted that the ministers condemned
attacks in Iraq against civilians, humanitarian
organizations and the UN, but they were silent on those
targeting coalition troops. These attacks are regarded
by large segments of Arab public opinion as legitimate
resistance to foreign occupying forces.
Although
he was apparently officially invited, Iraqi Foreign
Minister Hoshyar Zebari did not attend. Some OIC summit
members in Malaysia were also not keen to invite Iraq or
Zebari, but pressed by other members, many reliant on US
largesse, the rotating head of the Iraqi Governing
Council (IGC)and Zebari, with a delegation, did attend.
According to reports, the foreign ministers
discussed for hours whether or not to extend an
invitation to Zebari. Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia, all close US allies, reportedly demanded an
official invitation for Zebari from the beginning, while
Iran and Syria favored that he come after the first
session when an agreed agenda had been thrashed out.
Turkey, whose relations with the US have
improved after its decision to send troops to Iraq,
remains peeved that the US-appointed IGC remains
strongly opposed to any Turkish troops being deployed.
Turkish officials thus said that they were not opposed
to Zebari's participation in any form, but left it up to
the host to decide.
Turkish Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul and Zebari have attended several
international meetings together, including the OIC
Malaysian one, but Gul never met Zebari in official
bilateral talks. A request by the Iraqi delegation to
meet Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Gul in
Malaysia was turned down by the Turkish side.
Officials then said that the participants were
in consensus that Iraq should attend after the Saturday
session, but Zebari turned down the invitation as "too
late and too little". It appears, though, that the
invitation for the Damascus meeting was not properly
extended or intentionally delayed.
Perhaps not
all participants wanted the agenda to be hijacked by the
Iraqi foreign minister. "The terrorists are coming from
all the borders, including Syria," Zebari had said
earlier. He also reportedly wanted to use the meeting to
urge his neighbors to provide information on former
Saddam Hussein regime figures who may be hiding in their
countries. "What is required of neighboring countries
that care about the unity and sovereignty and security
of Iraq is to back Iraqi efforts to bolster security and
stability, combating terrorism and barring terrorists
from crossing over, and protecting the border," said
Zebari .
US officials have said that foreign
fighters may be behind a recent upsurge in attacks
against coalition forces, international aid agencies and
Iraqis in Iraq. On November 2, 16 US soldiers were
killed when their helicopter was shot down by the Iraqi
resistance. America has accused Syria of not doing
enough to prevent foreign fighters infiltrating through
its eastern border into Iraq. The US has also accused
Iran of interference.
On Sunday, L Paul Bremer,
the chief US administrator, again spoke to the media
about infiltrators coming into Iraq from Syria. "What we
need in the case of the Syrian border is much better
cooperation from the Syrian government in stopping these
people on their side," he said. Bremer said the same
message applied to Iran.
Earlier, Iranian
Foreign Minister Kharrazi, while acknowledging
cross-border infiltration into Iraq, told Iran's
official Islamic Republic News Agency that such claims
are made "by those who were trying to justify their
failures in Iraq". A Syrian political analyst said that
the wording sought to deflect the accusations of
infiltration and put the security burden on Iraq and the
coalition forces. "The intention [of the communique] is
for the American forces, Iraqi army and police to guard
Iraq's border with neighboring countries," Haitham
Kilani said.
The issue of military participation
by Iraq's neighbors in a stabilization force appears not
to have been formally discussed. Turkey's parliament
recently approved sending up to 10,000 troops to Iraq,
but deployment is increasingly uncertain because of
strong opposition by Iraqis, especially Kurds in north
Iraq, and even some neighboring countries. King Abdullah
of Jordan openly said so on the eve of the OIC summit,
and Jordanian Foreign Minister Muasher repeated that "it
is dangerous" to send military forces to Iraq from
neighboring countries.
The seventh article in
the statement, which called on Iraqi administration to
cooperate with its neighbors in the fight against
terrorist groups was added as a result of Turkey's
insistence, although all other participating countries
are equally worried and expressed their concerns about
the presence of terrorist and other armed groups in
Iraq.
The article underlined that the terrorist
groups constituted a serious threat for neighboring
countries and called on Iraqi officials to cooperate
with their neighbors in the fight against such groups.
UN resolution 1511 states that Iraq should cooperate
with its neighbors. The article stresses that
cooperation in the fight against terrorist groups would
prevent border violations.
Thus, the Iraqi
administration has been asked to cooperate with Turkey
in the fight against the terrorist organization, Kurdish
Workers Party - Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress
(PKK-KADEK). Iran also supported the motion because of
its own concerns about the People's Mujahideen, an
opposition group based in Iraq.
The neighbors
are naturally worried about the breakup of Iraq, which
could well affect them, although some might see in it an
opportunity. Thus the importance of the territorial
integrity and political unity of Iraq was highlighted,
and the foreign ministers stressed that they would
assist the Iraqi people, who have been living through a
difficult period both in their security and economy.
The neighbors said that they supported the IGC
because of the interim responsibilities entrusted to it.
This was said after indirect pressure exerted by the US
on Kuwait, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It was hoped that the
IGC would undertake all efforts until an elected
government which had the ability to fully represent the
people came into power.
The statement also
included some expressions about the US, which was
defined as an "occupying power", and underlined its
responsibility for the maintenance of security and
stability in Iraq within the scope of concerned
resolutions of the UN Security Council, international
law and the 1949 Geneva Agreement.
The
participating nations in Damascus have different
objectives. This was the first such meeting by Iraq's
neighbors, although bilateral contacts have been
maintained regularly. Turkey's new government, formed a
year ago by the Justice and Development Party with
Islamic roots, has been more sympathetic than others to
Iraq's plight, and it wants to have better relations
with its neighbors. With Syria, ties have improved since
the latter expelled PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The US
has looked with concern at the new Turkish government's
efforts to come closer to Iran, with which Washington
has a number of issues.
After all the fuss about
its (non) participation, Iraq's Governing Council
finally welcomed on November 3 the Damascus meeting. In
a statement, the IGC "stresses that such conferences are
necessary in the current situation and simultaneously
reiterated what was stated in the final statement". The
statement also added that such conferences "reflect a
confirmation on the need of supporting Iraq at the
political and security levels".
The statement
stressed that Iraq will not be a starting point for
terrorist acts against any of the countries, calling for
"exerting common serious issues by Iraq's neighboring
states to eliminate terrorist acts which inflict heavy
losses against the people of Iraq and destabilize the
security and stability of this country".
Following the Damascus meeting, media in the
Middle East have called on the US to listen to Iraq's
neighbors. Jordan's al-Dustur said that the meeting
"comes in the wake of increased and intensified
confrontation in Iraq ... It is hoped that Washington
will find in the outcome of the Damascus meeting
something that can provide it with the 'peace' necessary
to descend from the top of the tree which it climbed by
waging war on Iraq against the wishes of the
international community and the UN."
Shargh, an
Iranian newspaper, commented that the Damascus meeting
had more to do with getting support for Damascus than to
assess means of regional cooperation or combat terrorism
and establish security in Iraq. The only result of the
meeting was a further deterioration of relations between
Baghdad and Damascus, the paper said.
Dubai's
Gulf News, in an editorial, said that the neighbors
"should be more closely involved in matters and less
inclined to condemn what is being done in the name of
'freedom'. Arabs are much better at knowing what is best
for their people, their country and the region than any
authority from the other side of the world. Even with
the best intentions in the world, it is unlikely that
America and its allies could ever do what is right for
Iraqis and the region since it is inevitable that the
West will impose its own ideas of right and wrong,
possibly ignoring the religious, cultural and historical
aspects of a society that traces itself back to the
birth of civilization."
The report chided Syria
for keeping out the IGC foreign minister and added,
"Certainly the council are non-elected members, in the
Western eyes of democracy, but they are fully capable of
representing their nation's views and airing their
opinions at the meeting." It concluded, "There are a
number of issues facing the nations bordering Iraq,
besides the obvious one of helping Iraq to arise from
the ashes of destruction wreaked by years of sanctions
and the allied invasion. The much-disputed matter of
establishing democracy in Iraq, and the possibility of
its 'domino effect' occurring throughout the region is
an area that has to be addressed with some urgency."
Iraq's neighbors have now spoken, but whether
anyone is listening is another matter.
K
Gajendra Singh, Indian ambassador (retired), served
as ambassador to Turkey from August 1992 to April 1996.
Prior to that, he served terms as ambassador to Jordan,
Romania and Senegal. He is currently chairman of the
Foundation for Indo-Turkic Studies. Email
Gajendrak@hotmail.com
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