ARBIL, Iraq, 24 October 2005 — Arab League chief Amr Moussa called for a new Iraq yesterday as he addressed the Kurdish Parliament during a landmark visit aimed at drumming up support for a national reconciliation conference.
“I hope stability and security will reign in Iraq, and that fraternity and cooperation will prevail between its different communities,” he told lawmakers who greeted his speech with applause and a standing ovation.
The head of the 22-member Arab League had arrived the day earlier to meet with regional President Massoud Barzani in a symbolic visit that marked Arab League recognition of the Kurdish autonomous region, and government spokesman Leith Kubba said he would extend his visit to Iraq by one or two days.
The Arab League chief said he was “happy to hear the Iraqi national anthem and the Kurdish anthem” played as the Parliament session opened. “It is an important message to the Arab world from Kurdistan about the new Iraq,” he stressed. “Iraqi Kurdistan is an important part not only of Iraq, but also of the Arab world and the Middle East.”
Moussa, on his first trip to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, said Saturday he had won crucial backing from Ali Al-Sistani for his planned attempt to reconcile Iraq’s divided communities.
Moussa met last week with the prominent Sunni religious body, the Committee of Muslim Scholars, and several members of the government in Baghdad.
Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr rejected Moussa’s overtures, however, continuing to insist the League clearly condemn insurgent attacks before he would talk with the pan-Arab body which wants to hold a preparatory conference in Cairo on Nov. 15 ahead of full talks in Iraq. Moussa told the Kurds: “Each party would be able to freely express their views on the new Iraq.”
In Baghdad, Kubba reiterated the government’s insistence that groups which espouse violence be excluded.
In London, the Sunday Telegraph published a poll that suggested 45 percent of Iraqi citizens support attacks and fewer than one percent think allied military involvement is helping to improve security in their country.
