| 2008: ICI strong message from int'l community to support building Iraq |
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May 29, 2008 Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Thursday considered the International Compact for Iraq conference, which opened this morning in Sweden, as a strong message of support from the international community for the building of a unified Iraq, and an opportunity to highlight the "current achievements" realized by his government in various domains. "We are optimistic with what we have achieved since the Sharm el-Sheikh conference last year," al-Maliki said, noting that the data and information prepared by Iraqi experts in the annual report, which will be presented to the conference, "show our achievements in a year full of challenges." "The Iraqi people believe in the importance of the national reconciliation which we have considered from the beginning as a 'lifeboat' and boosted our belief that Iraq would remain unified," he added. He asserted that the government adopts the national reconciliation initiative as "a strategic vision, not a political slogan," underlining that this was the main reason civil war was averted in the country. The International Compact for Iraq conference opened here Thursday, amid calls from Baghdad for more help to stabilize the situation, with the participation of more than 90 countries, the U.N. and a number of international organizations. The conference will review annual reports, prepared by the Iraqi government and the U.N., which provides a comprehensive evaluation of the progress achieved thus far and the coming challenges. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki left Baghdad yesterday heading for Stockholm accompanied by his deputy Burham Saleh, Finance Minister Bayan Jabr al-Zubaidi, and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. Dignitaries expected to address the summit included U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki along with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. Al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials will hold bilateral meetings with Swedish officials and discuss the need for investments in Iraq's infrastructure. The International Compact for Iraq (ICI) was launched at a conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh on May 3, 2007. The preparatory process on the United Nations-sponsored ICI, began in July 2006 at the initiative of the Iraqi government to establish a partnership with the international community. It is a five-year national plan to help Iraq consolidate peace, sound governance and economic reconstruction. It includes benchmarks and mutual commitments from both Iraq and the international community in pursuit of political, economic and social development goals over the next five years. Source: Voices of Iraq |