Last weekend's Baghdad conference was meant to break the ice, if nothing else, writes Salah Hemeid For nearly four years Iraqi Shia and Kurdish leaders vehemently refused to hold a regional or international conference on stabilising Iraq, claiming that such a gathering would provide a platform for their Arab Sunni neighbours to exercise pressure and extract concessions for their Iraqi-Sunni brethren. The Bush administration also rejected recommendations made in December by the Iraq Study Group, or Baker-Hamilton Commission, to meet with Iran and Syria at such a conference citing Damascus and Tehran as part of the problem and not the solution. But on 28 February Iraq's Kurdish Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, surprised the world when he announced that the Nuri Al-Maliki government was planning such a conference after all, asking Iraq's neighbours and the five permanent members of the Security Council to send delegates to the meeting scheduled 10 March. Hours later, his US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, endorsed the proposal and urged those who were invited to "seize this opportunity to improve [their] relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region." It was a dramatic diplomatic shift by Maliki and Washington, dictated by necessity amid growing criticism on both for their failure to restore security and order to the war-torn country and with fears increasing that the turmoil may spill over to other parts of the region. With little hesitation by some, and careful consideration by others, all parties invited to the conference finally got together in Baghdad Saturday, as explosions echoed in the beleaguered capital and rockets landed with thunderclaps nearby. Addressing representatives of 13 nations and three international groups, Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki opened the conference with a plea to Iraq's neighbours to back his efforts to control the violence engulfing the country by refusing to finance attacks or allowing foreign fighters to cross their borders. "Confronting terrorism requires ceasing any form of financial and media support and religious cover, as well as logistical support and provision of arms and men that would turn out to be explosive tools killing our children, women and elders, and bombing our mosques and churches," Maliki said. Maliki also made it clear that his government will resist attempts to force changes on its political agenda, apparently in reference to an Arab League policy statement endorsed by Arab foreign ministers who met in Cairo a week earlier. The ministers pushed the Iraqi government to add a political component to its latest security effort in Baghdad by including opponents in the government. They particularly urged the Iraqi government to redraft Iraq's present constitution and rescind laws that give preferential treatment to Shia and Kurds. Their statement was the strongest sign yet from mostly Sunni Muslim Arab governments that they blame the Shia-led Iraqi government for the country's sectarian strife. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa even suggested that Arab governments might take their recommendations on quelling the bloodshed in Iraq to the UN Security Council, a move widely interpreted as signalling the failure of the US-backed Maliki government. The conference also came amid mounting US public and congressional concern about the Bush administration's intentions towards Iran over its nuclear research programme, particularly in light of the recent deployment of two US aircraft carrier groups to the Gulf and charges by Bush and other senior officials that Tehran is secretly providing deadly explosive devices to allies in Iraq that have allegedly killed some 170 US soldiers there since 2004. Though Washington sent David Satterfield, one of its top diplomats, to the meeting along with Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, it remains unclear if the conference marks a strategic shift that could reverse the trajectory towards confrontation with Tehran, or whether it represents a mere tactical manoeuvre designed to soothe an increasingly anxious Congress and pre-empt any move on its part to rein in the administration. Iran sent a large delegation of 10 representatives headed by Assistant Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini sounded a positive note about the conference, describing it as "a good first step". Iranian newspapers also lauded the gathering as proof that America needed Iran to solve Iraq's myriad problems. Khalilzad described his discussions with Iranian delegates as direct and businesslike, but participants reported that the two delegations struggled to agree even on the bland joint statement issued at the end of the conference. In addition to a final statement expressing support to Iraq, the most immediate outcome of the conference was an agreement in principle to form working groups on border security, fuel imports and refugees. Delegates failed, however, to agree on dates or to name members to the committees. They did agree to hold another regional meeting at the foreign ministers level, perhaps as early as April. Location was a matter of contention, with Iraq and Iran lobbying for Baghdad, Egypt suggesting Cairo and others pressing for Istanbul. The three working groups would involve only technical experts from Iraq's six neighbours. Both the Iraqis and the Americans said, however, that any of the participants could request another country or international organisation to attend as consultants, giving further opportunity for Americans and Iranians to sit together unofficially. Untouched entirely were broader problems in the region that have arisen with the heightened violence in Iraq and the involvement of Sunni and Shia players with ties to neighbouring states. Those issues include Arab Sunni concerns over rising Shia power in Iraq and Iran's increasing influence in the region, an international investigation into possible Syrian involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri, and concerns over Iran's nuclear research programme. If there were no immediate announcements of concrete steps to solve Iraq's problems, the meeting appeared at least to avoid deepening tensions among the countries at the table. Yet, all parties seemed to be cautioning against high expectations. "Deeds speak louder than words," Zebari told CNN after the conference. President Bush also said he is waiting to see if participants turn their words into action. "Words are easy to say in politics and international diplomacy," he said as a first reaction. Most Arab countries remained, meanwhile, tight-lipped about the conference, though privately some participants cast doubt on the possibility that the conference could secure a major breakthrough. "It needs more than statements or handshaking to take a sinking Iraq to the shore of safety," one Arab participant told Al-Ahram Weekly.
