The Ministers concluded their fifth meeting with a call for “free and united Iraq”

KUWAIT CITY, February 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Foreign Ministers of Iraq and its neighbors wound up a meeting in Kuwait Sunday, February 15, stressing the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the war-torn country, and calling for Iraqis to determine their political future and a swift withdrawal of occupation forces.

However, demands to include the U.S. occupation of Iraq in the final communiqué have been rejected and replaced by a more moderate phrase with no mention of the United States, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Ministers from Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Egypt and Bahrain, agreed to “re-emphasize the territorial integrity of Iraq together with respecting the sovereignty, independence and unity of Iraq, in addition to complying with the principles of non-interference in its internal affairs.”

The final statement also declares "supporting all efforts” by Iraq's interim Governing Council to “assume its responsibilities”.

The statement expresses hopes by Iraq's neighbors of seeing a “widely representative Iraqi government”, and welcomes the end of all “symbols of the former regime”.

The top diplomats supported all efforts enabling Iraq “to take a positive role as a member of the international community and establish viable relations with its neighboring states.”

U.N. Role

The delegates said the statement will further reaffirm “the importance of developing the vital role of the United Nations in order to assure central responsibility”.

The world body ordered its staff to leave Iraq in October following two bombings at its Baghdad headquarters, that killed top envoy Sergio Vieira De Mello and 21 others.

The statement further said the return of the U.N. includes “preparing the ground for the withdrawal of occupying forces as soon as possible and providing advice and technical expertise to formulate a constitution, holding elections and expediting the transfer of power”.

A United Nations top envoy sided with the U.S. Friday, February 13, ruling out Shiites’ call for direct and snap elections and warning of civil war in Iraq.

The statement also “expressed hope that a broad-based and representative Iraqi government would be formed ... and coexists peacefully with its neighbors and respects international conventions and agreements.”

The Ministers condemned “attacks and terrorist acts against civilians and Iraqi policemen and security forces... as well as international organizations and diplomatic missions operating in Iraq”.

Iraq saw a spate of deadly attacks this moths, which claimed up to 120 people.

At least 25 people were killed and scores others wounded early on Saturday, February 14, in two separate attacks on police facilities in the flashpoint town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

On Wednesday, February 11, a booby-trapped car rammed into a recruiting facility of the U.S.-formed new Iraqi army in Baghdad, killing at least 47 people.

The statement also denounced the “mass graves” in Iraq and “the Kuwaiti prisoners and those of other countries, killed by the [ousted Iraqi regime”. It also requested that those who committed such crimes be tried.

Statement Wording

The wording of the final statement, however, triggered divisions on whether or not to include the U.S. occupation.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara pushed for a clause in the final communiqué, demanding “the end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq before June 30”, the date scheduled for elections, and for an “immediate transfer of power,” members of a preparatory committee told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

His Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharazi approved this and was surprised at the "hesitation" by Arab top diplomats to also support it, the delegates said.

For Iraqi interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari a strongly-worded anti-U.S. statement was deemed unnecessary.

Delegates told AFP, that Zebari said the final statement was enough to reaffirm commitment to “the sovereignty and integrity of Iraqi territory as well as its unity, and the principle of non-interference in its internal affairs”.

Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Sabah said that “the importance is not in words, and using harsh terms that can create divisions and that do not necessarily achieve any goals,” according to the delegates.

The final statement says ministers will hold their next meeting in Cairo, without setting a date.

It is the fifth meeting of its kind to discuss the post-war situation and the repercussions of Iraq's prevailing insecurity on the region.