LUXEMBOURG: The EU urged the Iraqi government Monday to step up national reconciliation efforts and called on Iraq s neighbors to support the country s daunting stabilization drive by attending a May 4 national reconciliation conference in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. The appeal to neighbors, officials said, was aimed especially at Iran - like Iraq, a majority Shia nation - that has signaled it may boycott the conference if five Iranian diplomats held by the US in Iraq are not released beforehand. The EU foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, said in a statement Iraq s neighbors have a responsibility to support and promote the difficult process of national reconciliation and stabilization in Iraq. Sunni-led Arab governments are wary of Iraq s new Shia leadership, fearing it fuels violence against Sunnis and accusing it of helping Iran extend its influence in the Middle East. The EU plea to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki to do more for national reconciliation echoed Arab appeals. At a summit of Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia last month, Arab states demanded Iraq change its constitution and reform its military to include more Sunnis, including members of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein s Baath party who were purged after the US-led invasion of Iraq. The EU foreign ministers called on the Iraqi government to intensify its efforts toward national reconciliation and to ensure full inclusiveness of minority Sunnis in Iraqi society.
