Monday, May 21, 2007
Al-Hashemi speaks out against U.S.-Iran talks
Politics
(Associated Press) - Iraq's Sunni vice-president spoke out yesterday against the upcoming US-Iran talks on May 28 on the situation in his country, saying the dialogue was 'damaging to Iraq's sovereignty.' Iraq's Shiite and Kurdish-dominated government has been pressing for those talks. But comments by Tareq Al Hashemi, a leader of the main Sunni bloc in parliament, reflect differences among the country's religious and ethnic groups on the role of Iran.
"It's not good to encourage anybody to talk on my behalf on Iraqi internal and national matters and I would have preferred that this subject be tackled by Iraqis themselves," Al Hashemi told reporters on the sidelines of the third and last day of an international conference held by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum.
"This is really damaging to Iraq's sovereignty," he said. "This is why we insisted that the Iraqis should participate in these meeting, should be aware of the agenda and should be consulted on whatever resolution and agreement to be reached." "So, we're going to keep our eyes open from A to Z on all these meetings," Al Hashemi added.
"It's not good to encourage anybody to talk on my behalf on Iraqi internal and national matters and I would have preferred that this subject be tackled by Iraqis themselves," Al Hashemi told reporters on the sidelines of the third and last day of an international conference held by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum.
"This is really damaging to Iraq's sovereignty," he said. "This is why we insisted that the Iraqis should participate in these meeting, should be aware of the agenda and should be consulted on whatever resolution and agreement to be reached." "So, we're going to keep our eyes open from A to Z on all these meetings," Al Hashemi added.
Labels: Iran, Tareq al-Hashemi, U.S.
