Rantburg Diplomacy Desk followup to the Prince Nayef article:Angry disagreements surfaced on Wednesday at a meeting of interior ministers from Iraq and its neighbors over the timing of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Iraq, diplomats said. The diplomats said some countries, including meeting hosts Iran, were pushing for a joint statement with an article calling for the complete withdrawal of U.S.-led troops shortly after Iraq's planned Jan. 30 national elections.
| "You want us to leave? Sure, no problem. Which way is Tehran again?" |
Diplomats said the issue provoked some angry exchanges between officials at the two-day Tehran meeting which had been due to conclude earlier on Wednesday. "Some of them were shouting at each other. It's hard to be optimistic (about an agreement)," one said.
The Tehran meeting had already exposed Baghdad's growing frustration with some of its neighbors, accusing them of not doing enough to halt the flow of illegal arms, people and money connected to violence in Iraq. "A lot of people come illegally to Iraq," Naqib told Reuters on Wednesday on the sidelines of the ministerial gathering. "There are so many goods smuggled into Iraq -- weapons, money. That is the major issue right now for us. They (Iraq's neighbors) should make some efforts to control their borders," he said. Neighbors also needed to arrest "terrorists which are working in some neighboring countries and exchange some information about their activities," he said.
The Tehran meeting involving Iraq, its neighbors, Egypt and the United Nations was seen as a chance to improve security cooperation and encourage tighter border controls. But while Iraq's neighbors, such as Iran, acknowledge some difficulties policing their frontiers with Iraq, none accept any responsibility for the violence taking place there.
| "Responsibility? For this mess? Us? Pshaw! And piffle." |
Diplomats said Iran, a long-time foe of the United States which broke ties with Tehran in 1980, also wanted the joint declaration to "condemn the occupation of Iraq by U.S.-led forces and the massacre of civilians."
| Gah. |