Ex-Iraqi PM: Country should not be used as launching pad

Iraq refuses to be a launching pad for threats against any of its neighbours and at the same time countries surrounding Iraq should not threaten the security of this Arab state, former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, said today amid rising tension between the United States and Iran.

Al-Jaafari told reporters in this holy city after meeting the country’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will end their six-week-old political boycott “very soon".

The United States is building up its troops in the region in what appears to be a message to Iran and last week captured six Iranians working at a liaison office in the northern city of Irbil.

One of the six was released and the five were said to be connected to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard faction that funds and arms insurgents in Iraq.

Asked if the buildup in US troops is a threat to Iran, al-Jaafari said “we don’t want Iraq to pose a threat to any country. We also don’t accept that any neighbouring country poses a threat to Iraq.” He did not elaborate.

The United States accused Iran of aiding militias and insurgents that attack American troops. Iran denies the charges.

Al-Jaafari said he discussed with the Iranian-born al-Sistani the security situation in the country and ways of improving it as well as boosting public services.

Speaking about the 30 legislators and six Cabinet ministers who follow al-Sadr, whose return is being discussed with the Shiite bloc in parliament, al-Jaafari said “the suspension of activities by the Sadrist bloc will end very soon, God willing.”

The so-called Sadrists said they will return but imposed some conditions that Shiite politicians asked them to amend.

The boycott has kept them from parliament and Cabinet offices since they walked out over the late November meeting between US President George Bush and Prime Minister Nouri Maliki in Amman, Jordan.

“There aren’t real obstacles in front of their return. What they are suggesting are not personal demands. They are remarks on politics,” al-Jaafari said.