DAMASCUS, 3 November 2003 — Regional states yesterday called for cooperation on controlling Iraq’s porous borders and urged US-led forces to restore order to the violence-plagued Middle Eastern nation.
The foreign ministers of Iraq’s neighbors — Syria, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan — plus politically influential Egypt, also condemned terrorist bombings in Iraq and expressed support for Baghdad’s US-appointed interim administration, welcoming the body that boycotted the weekend ministerial session to join in future talks. The next meeting was set for Kuwait, but no date was given.
Iraq’s neighbors have been concerned about the far-reaching regional consequences of the US presence in Iraq and a pro-American government in Baghdad. The two-day meeting was meant to address these issues, and initially excluded Iraq so as not to divert the focus to their direct involvement in the process of security and stability.
The United States and its Iraqi allies in Baghdad have complained that lax border security has allowed foreign fighters into Iraq to attack US soldiers.
Iraqi officials had hoped to use the Damascus meeting to demand an end to this cross-border infiltration and to urge neighbors to provide information on former Saddam Hussein loyalists who may be hiding in their countries. But in the end, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari refused to attend the Damascus meeting, apparently insulted by two last-minute invitations. Zebari has said the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council would not accept decisions taken by the meeting.
The ministers expressed concern about the presence of terrorist groups in Iraq and the possibility that they might cross into their own countries.
