Iraq Meeting Opens Amid Charges of Legitimizing Occupation

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, November 22 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - An international conference on Iraq opened Monday, November 22, in this Egyptian Red Sea resort city, clouded by criticism of “legitimizing” the US-led occupation.

As some 20 foreign ministers and heads of four international organizations gathered for the two-day event, the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the highest Sunni religious authority in Iraq , said the conference would further give credibility to the US-handpicked interim Iraqi government.

The influential group last week renewed appeals for a boycott of the January 30 vote in protest against the devastating US-led assault on the western city of Fallujah .

So far, 47 Sunni, Shiite, Turkoman and Christian bodies and movements have declared their boycott of the upcoming election.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a conference participant, said Monday a Sunni boycott would upset political balances and create even more trouble in the war-torn country.

“Big difficulties may arise if the Sunni Arab community does not participate fully in the elections,” he told Turkish daily Hurriyet.

“Legitimizing Occupation”

Egypt ’s Muslim Brotherhood agreed the conference was a bid to “legitimize” the occupation and the interim government of Iyad Allawi “imposed” by Washington .

“A conference excluding the resistance and anti-occupation powers would only lead to more disasters and tragedies and is doomed to failure,” it said in a statement emailed to IslamOnline.net.

In Jordan , the Islamic Labour Front urged Arab governments not to “facilitate” the job of the US occupation.

Iran , a major regional player, said it was going to the conference to demand an end to the US-led occupation, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said his country would “protest against the methods of the United States, insist on the necessity of withdrawing American troops from Iraq and the organization of elections on schedule.”

He said Tehran backed any plan that would lead to a departure of US troops from neighboring Iraq , and called on the US to respond publicly to Iran ’s offer to help it leave the “quagmire”.

Iran has sent Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi to the international meeting, but has ruled out the prospect of any direct talks there with the United States .

Draft Declaration

A 14-point draft declaration is based on an Egyptian text that was amended during several preparatory meetings held in Cairo , amid wrangling between anti-war France and the US .

The conference will not set a deadline for the withdrawal of the US-led occupation forces as desired by Paris and other countries, including Iran, according to a draft copy of the final declaration, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

The draft leaves it to the Iraqi government to decide when foreign forces should depart.

It does, however, remind the US-occupation forces that its mandate is “not open-ended.”

The conference is also expected to condemn “all acts of terrorism in Iraq and calls for the immediate cessation of all such acts in order to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people.”

Furthermore, the draft stresses the UN leading role in helping with the January elections and urges cooperation or at least “non-interference” from neighboring countries.

The participants are expected to reiterate their commitment to UN Security Council resolution 1546 on the political process.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari announced Monday that another meeting of Iraq 's neighbors would be hosted by Iran on November 30.

The Sharm El-Sheikh conference has been in the pipeline ever since Allawi called for an international forum during a Cairo visit in July.

It brings together Iraq 's neighbors, the UN Security Council’s five permanent members, Group of Eight and international bodies such as the UN, EU, Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Financial issues will also be discussed at the two-day conference after the Paris Club of creditors wrote 80 percent of the Iraqi debt.