Maliki urges international help to fight nations chaos

Iraq’s prime minister appealed today for international help to cut off networks aiding extremists and warned envoys from neighbours and world powers that Iraq’s growing sectarian bloodshed could spill across the Middle East.

“Iraqi has become a front-line battlefield,” prime minister Nouri Maliki told delegates at a groundbreaking conference in Baghdad that brought together Islamic nations including Iran and Western representatives led by the US.

“(Iraq) needs support in this battle that not only threatens Iraq but will spill over to all countries in the region,” he added

Maliki urged help in stopping financial support, weapons pipelines and “religious cover” for the relentless attacks of car bombings, killings and other attacks that have pitted Iraq’s Sunnis against majority Shiites.

He expressed hope the conference could be a “turning point in supporting the government in facing this huge danger”.

The one-day gathering is seen as a prime opportunity for some icebreaking overtures between Iran and the United States, whose chief delegate has left open the door for possible one-to-one exchanges about Iraq.

It brought together Iraq’s six neighbours, the five permanent UN Security Council members and several Arab representatives. Its primary goal is to pave the way for a high-level meeting possibly next month

However, the meeting also gives a forum to air a wide range of views and concerns including US accusations of weapons smuggling from Iran and Arab demands for greater political power for Iraq’s Sunnis.

Security was extremely tight as envoys gathered in Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, which is outside the heavily protected Green Zone. Just as the meeting got under way, a loud blast was heard through central Baghdad. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.

“We look for the assistance and the co-operation of our neighbours,” said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Before the meeting, Iraqi troops and police were put on high alert. US soldiers with bomb-sniffing dogs combed hallways and rooms in the ministry.

The meeting allows ample time for delegates to mingle and open informal contacts. All eyes will be on any attempts to bridge the nearly 28-year diplomatic estrangement between the US and Iran.

Some average Iraqis have little hope that more international talks will end the relentless sectarian violence.

“If the Iraqis are not hand in hand, no conference can succeed. Four years have passed and many conferences have been held – every year, every week, every day – but all these were fruitless,” said Thamer Ali Hussein, a Shiite resident in Baghdad.

Other tensions are likely to surface.

The Arab League said this week that it would urge changes in Iraq’s constitution to give more political power to Sunnis, who are outnumbered nearly 3-to-1 by Shiites. Many Shiites in Iraq saw the statement as a challenge to the legitimacy of Maliki’s government.

Other potential friction at the meeting could come from Turkey, which opposes plans to hold a referendum sometime this year on whether the northern oil hub of Kirkuk will remain in Arab-dominated territory or shift to the semiautonomous Kurdish zone.

Turkish officials fear that oil riches for the Kurds could stir separatist sentiments and spill over into Kurdish areas in Turkey.

“All the delegates are united by one thing: the fear of a prolonged civil war in Iraq. It would hurt them each in different ways,” said Abdel-Moneim Said, director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. “Fear is the one thing bringing them all together.”