Jordan Times
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Official complete preparations for reconciliation conference
AMMAN (JT) — The Royal Court Media and Information Division on Tuesday wrapped up preparations for the Iraqi Islamic Reconciliation Conference, scheduled for April 22, under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah.
An official source said Ammar Al Hakim, a prominent leader of the Higher Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, will head the council's delegation to the conference.
The source added that a representative of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr would attend the conference, in addition to top Sunni leaders.
Those leaders include Hareth Al Dari, head of the Sunni Commission of Muslim Ulemas, Adnan Dulaimi, who heads the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, Saleh Mutlag, head of Iraqi National Dialogue Front and Tareq Al Hashimi, secretary general of the Iraqi Islamic Party.
Scholars and religious figures from Arab and Islamic countries will also participate, according to the source.
Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse yesterday reported Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani would not be represented at the conference, which aims at finding a resolution to Iraq's sectarian violence.
A media centre has been set up at Le Royal Hotel and another at Zahran Royal Palace, the venue of the conference, Palace officials announced.
A television studio has also been set up at Le Meridien Hotel to enable the journalists to interview participants.
More than 250 reporters and media personnel from local, Arab and international media outlets will be covering the event, which is organised by the Al al Bayt Foundation, in cooperation with the Arab League.
Some 30 Iraqi media representatives will attend the conference, in addition to chief reporters of major Arabic language magazines and newspapers.
Jordan TV will carry a live broadcast of the event's proceedings.
The Royal Court Media Division will start distributing badges to media representatives on Friday afternoon, according to a Palace statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
The conference will seek to clarify Sunni-Shiite religious differences in order to counter extremist forces bent on fomenting sectarian conflict in the war-ravaged country.
The event, which was suggested by the Monarch, will seek “to defuse sectarian violence and religious tension,” the conference's spokesperson, Abdul Salam Abbadi, said last week.
“Political solutions will not succeed in Iraq unless there is a religious solution,” he said.