Security
Meet Ends,
Insecurity Does Not
By Dahr Jamail &
Ali al-Fadhily
14 March, 2007
Inter
Press Service
BAGHDAD, Mar 12 (IPS)
- The security conference held last Saturday in Baghdad produced statements,
drew mortar fire, and brought little hope of security.
The conference, which was
attended by representatives from 13 countries including Syria, Iran
and the United States, was held inside the heavily fortified "green
zone" in central Baghdad.
Representatives from Iraq's
six neighbouring countries (Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait
and Syria) and delegates from the five permanent UN Security Council
countries (the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France) were
present along with several Arab representatives.
Iraqi President Jalal Talibani
was reported to have observed the conference on video from his bed at
the al-Hussein Medical City in Amman, Jordan.
International media were
invited to show that the meeting was intent on bringing security to
Iraq. That plan backfired after mortar shells landed within 50 metres
of the conference centre, shattering glass panes in the building.
Conflict arose within the
conference itself. Iran demanded a timetable for U.S. withdrawal. The
United States accused Iran of assisting Shia militias.
"The whole world was
there including some resistance fighters who, for the first time, responded
to an Iraqi government call to attend a meeting," Yassen Abdul
Rahman, a lawyer and anti-occupation activist who attended the conference
told IPS.
"The heroes of the resistance
were represented by the shower of mortar missiles that broke the glass
that separated the conference from the reality of the situation outside."
Iraqis seemed divided over
the value of the conference.
"We cannot afford to
give up hope," activist on women's issues Ahlam al-Lami told IPS.
"Those at that meeting are representatives of the whole world,
and they are responsible for bringing back life to us. We might just
give them an excuse to escape their responsibility if we say there is
no hope."
Others were less optimistic.
"Those who met inside
the green zone are so persistent at keeping (Iraqi Prime Minister) Nouri
al-Maliki and his gang in power in Iraq that they are polishing their
U.S.-made shoes with international wax for a better appearance,"
health expert Dr. Abdul-Salam al-Janabi told IPS.
Some Iraqi leaders accused
the U.S.-backed Iraqi government at the conference of exploiting sectarian
and ethnic differences to the advantage of the occupation forces.
"It is the same sectarian
picture given once more by the Iraqi government," a senior staff
member of the Iraqi ministry of foreign affairs told IPS.
United Iraqi Alliance leader
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who also leads the Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution in Iraq, a Shia group close to Iran, accused some Arab countries
of supporting "terrorism."
In a speech before the conference,
Hakim attacked Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa who had called
on the UN Security Council to support a proposed amendment of the new
Iraqi constitution. The amendment move, backed by opposition groups,
could lead to a challenge to the legitimacy of the Iraqi government.
Mussa had also called for
disbanding of the local militias and expansion of political dialogue
in order to achieve more balance in Iraq.
The ruling coalition is showing
cracks. Hakim's Shia coalition members have developed serious differences
in strategies. These led recently to withdrawal of the al-Fadhila Party
from the Prime Minister's United Iraqi Alliance. Party leaders quit,
citing "faulty sectarian policies."
The move destabilised Iraq's
teetering government further.
Many Arab political analysts
believe that this conference was yet another attempt by the U.S. administration
to buy time in Iraq while it prepares to deal with Iran.
The U.S. military currently
has two aircraft carrier battle groups in the region. This is the first
time such a force has been positioned there since the invasion of Iraq
in March 2003.
(Ali al-Fadhily is our Baghdad correspondent. Dahr Jamail is our specialist
writer who has been covering Iraq and the Middle East for several years.)