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Security Meet Ends, Insecurity Does Not
Inter Press Service Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily
BAGHDAD, Mar 12 (IPS) - The security conference held last Saturday in Baghdad produced statements, drew mortar fire, and brought little hope of security. The conference, which was attended by representatives from 13 countries including Syria, Iran and the United States, was held inside the heavily fortified "green zone" in central Baghdad.
Representatives from Iraq's six neighbouring countries (Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait and Syria) and delegates from the five permanent UN Security Council countries (the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France) were present along with several Arab representatives.
Iraqi President Jalal Talibani was reported to have observed the
conference on video from his bed at the al-Hussein Medical City in
Amman, Jordan.
International media were invited to show that the meeting was intent on
bringing security to Iraq. That plan backfired after mortar shells
landed within 50 metres of the conference centre, shattering glass
panes in the building.
Conflict arose within the conference itself. Iran demanded a timetable
for U.S. withdrawal. The United States accused Iran of assisting Shia
militias.
"The whole world was there including some resistance fighters who, for
the first time, responded to an Iraqi government call to attend a
meeting," Yassen Abdul Rahman, a lawyer and anti-occupation activist
who attended the conference told IPS.
"The heroes of the resistance were represented by the shower of mortar
missiles that broke the glass that separated the conference from the
reality of the situation outside."
Iraqis seemed divided over the value of the conference.
"We cannot afford to give up hope," activist on women's issues Ahlam
al-Lami told IPS. "Those at that meeting are representatives of the
whole world, and they are responsible for bringing back life to us. We
might just give them an excuse to escape their responsibility if we say
there is no hope."
Others were less optimistic.
"Those who met inside the green zone are so persistent at keeping
(Iraqi Prime Minister) Nouri al-Maliki and his gang in power in Iraq
that they are polishing their U.S.-made shoes with international wax
for a better appearance," health expert Dr. Abdul-Salam al-Janabi told
IPS.
Some Iraqi leaders accused the U.S.-backed Iraqi government at the
conference of exploiting sectarian and ethnic differences to the
advantage of the occupation forces.
"It is the same sectarian picture given once more by the Iraqi
government," a senior staff member of the Iraqi ministry of foreign
affairs told IPS.
United Iraqi Alliance leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who also leads the
Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shia group close to
Iran, accused some Arab countries of supporting "terrorism."
In a speech before the conference, Hakim attacked Arab League Secretary
General Amr Mussa who had called on the UN Security Council to support
a proposed amendment of the new Iraqi constitution. The amendment move,
backed by opposition groups, could lead to a challenge to the
legitimacy of the Iraqi government.
Mussa had also called for disbanding of the local militias and
expansion of political dialogue in order to achieve more balance in
Iraq.
The ruling coalition is showing cracks. Hakim's Shia coalition members
have developed serious differences in strategies. These led recently to
withdrawal of the al-Fadhila Party from the Prime Minister's United
Iraqi Alliance. Party leaders quit, citing "faulty sectarian policies."
The move destabilised Iraq's teetering government further.
Many Arab political analysts believe that this conference was yet
another attempt by the U.S. administration to buy time in Iraq while it
prepares to deal with Iran.
The U.S. military currently has two aircraft carrier battle groups in
the region. This is the first time such a force has been positioned
there since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
(Ali al-Fadhily is our Baghdad correspondent. Dahr Jamail is our
specialist writer who has been covering Iraq and the Middle East for
several years.)
Writings 
BAGHDAD, Mar 12 (IPS) - The security conference held last Saturday in Baghdad produced statements, drew mortar fire, and brought little hope of security. The conference, which was attended by representatives from 13 countries including Syria, Iran and the United States, was held inside the heavily fortified "green zone" in central Baghdad.
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