Jordan Times
Monday, January 3, 2004
'All Iraq neighbours should attend Amman meeting'
AMMAN — Jordanian officials on Sunday said it was important that all six countries neighbouring Iraq attend Thursday's meeting here for their own national interests as well as Iraq's political future.
They were responding to Iran's announcement that it would downgrade its representation at the ministerial-level conference, which aims at discussing Iraq's current situation in general and place special focus on the January 30th elections.
“We welcome Iran's participation in the conference as well as that of all countries neighbouring Iraq,” Government Spokesperson Asma Khader told The Jordan Times. She did not elaborate, but reiterated “the need for all sides to attend the highly important conference.”
News reports yesterday said Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi would not be attending the one-day conference “because such a summit is likely to be pointless.”
“Mr Kharrazi will definitely not participate in the Amman conference.
We may take part at a lower, more appropriate level,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters in Tehran. “There is the question of how successful and how effective such conferences can be at this period of time.” Foreign Ministry sources could not confirm that Kharrazi would not attend the one-day conference, saying none of the countries officially declined participation. “We have sent invitations to all involved countries and none of them declined to attend,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson and former ambassador Rajab Sukayri said. “Therefore, we assume that all will be taking part in the meeting.” Jordan extended invitations to the foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Representatives from Iraq, Egypt and Bahrain were also invited.
Last month, Iran hosted a meeting of interior ministers and security officials of Iraq's neighbours in addition to Egypt to debate the issue of infiltration of terrorists into the violence-torn country. The meeting ended with a commitment to boost cooperation on border control and combat the transfer of money that finances terrorist activities. News reports said Foreign Minister Hani Mulki on Saturday telephoned Kharrazi and stressed the “significance” of all parties to attend the conference. They added that Kharrazi's decision not to attend the conference was in response to earlier remarks by Mulki stating that Jordan would not “remain quiet over any kind of interference by Iran in Iraq's internal affairs.” He reportedly called on Iran to prove otherwise. Tehran is perceived as meddling in Iraq's affairs and trying to influence the upcoming Iraqi elections to create what officials described as a “Shiite crescent” extending from Iraq to Lebanon. But Asefi reportedly rejected there was interference. “We have already said Iran does not interfere in Iraq. There is no evidence because there is no interference. It is not true that Iran is supporting any particular Iraqi group,” he added. Shiites make up the majority of the population in Iraq and the upcoming elections are expected to produce a mostly-Shiite government.