Iraq, neighbours view elections as key to bringing stability

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 22 (AFP) - Iraq and its neighbours on Monday threw their weight behind elections seen as crucial to the future of the violence-wracked country, at the opening of an international conference that was to put the United States at the same table as its fiercest anti-war critics.
"There was a convergence of views. We discussed the elections, the need to see the widest participation and boost security," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, who chaired the opening meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Delegates said the foreign minister in Iraq's interim government, Hoshyar Zebari, asserted that the political process in Iraq "will allow a stabilisation" of the situation in his country, where bloodshed and insecurity reign.
But some present threw doubt on the viability of the January 30 election date announced by Baghdad Sunday.
"Nationwide participation by Iraqis is more important than setting a date," Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal was quoted as saying by other participants.
"The important thing is to guarantee that all Iraqis can go to the polls," he reportedly told the closed-door gathering.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani Mulki earlier told AFP that "the dates are not sacred -- what is sacred is the democratic process."
Some 60 Sunni Arab factions have threatened to boycott the polls because of the heavy-handed US crackdown on insurgents in Fallujah, in the so-called "Sunni triangle" in the centre of Iraq.
Despite the misgivings, the ministers from Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey endorsed a draft declaration that was to be put to a broader session of the conference Tuesday.
That second session was to include US Secretary of State Colin Powell and French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier -- whose aides had tussled over the wording of the declaration in preparatory meetings -- as well as representatives of other Western powers, UN chief Kofi Annan and the foreign ministers of China and Russia.
According to a copy of the draft declaration seen by AFP, the conference is to stress a UN role in preparing the elections, condemn "terrorism", kidnapping and the murder of civilians, and urge cooperation or at least "non-interference" from neighbouring countries.
However, while saying the deployment of US-led troops in Iraq "is not open-ended", it gives no timetable for their withdrawal, as some countries had been seeking.
Abul Gheit said the final communique would have "a reference to the withdrawal of foreign troops" adding that the December 2005 expiry date of the mandate set out in a June UN Security Council resolution "must be respected".
Iran, represented by Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, said it backed any plan that would lead to a departure of US troops from Iraq.
"We support all initiatives that aim to bring an end to the occupation, and we are ready to help anyone to bring an end to the occupation as quickly as possible," government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told reporters in Tehran.
"If the Americans want to stay in their quagmire, they can stay there," the spokesman said. "What counts for us is security in Iraq, and this corresponds to our national interests."
Most of the delegates, including Kharazi and Powell, gathered for a dinner late Monday.
Bilateral meetings were also scheduled over the two days, notably one early Tuesday between British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi.
Powell was on Tuesday to brief the other members of the so-called quartet sponsoring the moribund peace process between Israel and the Palestinians about his talks with officials from both sides just before he flew in for the Sharm el-Sheikh conference.
The grouping is made up of the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations.
It will be the first meeting of the group since Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death on November 11.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara also said he was to meet Powell Tuesday.
Relations between their two countries have been strained by Washington's imposition of economic sanctions on Damascus, amid claims it was supporting terrorism and seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction, charges denied by Syria.
When asked if he, too, was to see Powell, Kharazi said no. Washington and Tehran have not had diplomatic ties in over two decades, following the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.

11/22/2004 20:37 GMT - AFP