Chinese Pinyin - Iraqi PM visits Iran seeking help to rein in violence

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Iraqi PM visits Iran seeking help to rein in violence

Updated: 2007-08-09 07:30

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday sought Iran's help in
reining in violence in his war-torn country, meeting with a top ally that
the United States accuses of fueling Iraq's turmoil by backing Shi'ite
militants.

It was the Iraqi premier's second visit to Teheran in less than a year,
coming days after US and Iranian experts held talks in Baghdad on
improving Iraq's security.

Al-Maliki and the Shi'ite and Kurdish parties that dominate his
government are closely linked to Iran, and the prime minister has
struggled to balance those ties with the United States, Teheran's top
rival in the region.

The US has stepped up its allegations that Iran is arming Shi'ite
militiamen, but the Iraqi government has taken a low-key stance without
outright backing the American claims, which Teheran denies. One al-Maliki
adviser, Sami al-Askari, said last month that the government "doesn't
rule out" Iranian arming of militants.

In Baghdad, US troops and warplanes struck militants in the Shi'ite
district of Sadr City, killing 32 suspected militants and detaining 12
others. The US military said the militants were involved in smuggling
weapons from Iran and sending militiamen to Iran for training.

Al-Maliki's visit came as officials from Iraq and its neighbors,
including Iran, held a conference in Damascus on improving Iraq's
security. At the gathering, Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Labib Abbawi
pressed countries to do more to stop infiltration of fighters and weapons
over their borders into iraq.

Al-Maliki met in Teheran with Iranian Vice-President Parviz Davoodi and
was to hold talks later with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's
Supreme National Security Council, according to the Iranian state news
agency IRNA.

"We want to promote economic ties and other ties that contribute to
combating terrorism and its challenges," al-Maliki said on the plane to
Iran.

He said Iraq and Iran "have joint understanding that they are keen to
solve problems and sufferings of Iraqi people. And they are both
convinced that their cooperation may lead to helping Iraq and restoring
stability."

Al-Maliki said he would also discuss and sign a number of cooperation
memorandums with Teheran. He did not elaborate.

In an apparent gesture of welcome, Iran's Payam state radio played
Arab-style belly dancing music early yesterday, a rare event in the
country, where state broadcasters shun such music because of the strict
Islamic rule.

Before arriving in Iran, al-Maliki traveled to Turkey and agreed to root
out a Kurdish rebel group from northern Iraq. He said parliament would
have the final say on efforts to halt the guerrillas' cross-border
attacks into Turkey. Iran also faces problems with its Kurdish minority
near the Iraqi border.

Turkey has threatened to stage an incursion into northern Iraq unless
Iraq or the United States cracks down on separatist Kurdish rebels. The
envisaged counterterrorism agreement is aimed at forcing Iraq to
officially commit itself to fighting the rebels.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/09/2007 page12)

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