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| Iraq | |
| Iraqi Religious Leaders Discuss Postwar Era | |
| 2003-05-27 | |
| AMMAN â Representatives of Iraqâs Muslim and Christian communities opened talks here yesterday to discuss how they can contribute to a new leadership in their country. The two-day meeting in the Jordanian capital is organized by the New York-based World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) and chaired by Prince Hassan bin Talal, uncle of Jordanâs King Abdallah and a former crown prince. WCRP Secretary-General William Vendley said the meeting âmarked the first time all of Iraqâs religious communities have met since Saddam Hussein took powerâ more than two decades ago. âReligion can be an asset in Iraqâs reconstruction,â he said. A representative of the Sunni community, Ahmad Ubeid Al-Kubeisi, put much of the onus for an Iraqi recovery on the United States as the occupying power. âIraq has entered a dark tunnel and we donât see the end ... but we hope that America, and there are many good people in America, will return to the right track that benefits a great power,â he told reporters. Kubeisi said there were âsignals of religious unityâ in postwar Iraq and said the meeting should help consolidate these ties and contribute to the political and economic reconstruction of the war-battered country. For Archbishop Emanuel Delli, the meeting was a chance to close ranks between the Christian and Muslim communities in Iraq to build a strong platform âto help rebuild the country after this destructive warâ. âIraq needs peace and needs that everyone strives to protect its rights,â the Christian cleric said. Sheikh Jalal Al-Husni Al-Sagheer of the majority Shiite community in Iraq hoped that the meeting will act as a âlever to influence politicians and decision-makers in one way or anotherâ to resolve the problems facing Iraq. Prince Hassan opened the meeting by stressing the international communityâs âmoral obligationâ toward Iraq which he said âpresents unique challenges and opportunitiesâ on the political, social, economic and strategic levels. âThe best way to prevent conflict in Iraq ... is to create a space for Iraqâs religious communities to contribute to the countryâs reconstruction,â he said. More than 20 representatives of Iraqâs religious communities are attending the meeting alongside 40 international representatives of the worldâs major faiths, organizers said.
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| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |