CAIRO: An Arab-backed Egyptian proposal calling for a three month cease-fire between Sunni insurgents and Shia factions in Iraq to be tabled at the upcoming Iraq security conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, was met with a less than positive response by the government of Nouri Al-Maliki.
Beginning May 3, the security conference on Iraq in Sharm El-Sheikh will host representatives from Iraq’s neighbors, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the Group of Eight.
Egypt is proposing a three-month ceasefire to be worked into the conference, which is causing consternation with the incumbent Iraqi government over their perception that the draft’s proposal treats the Shia-led government and the Sunni insurgency on an equal footing.
An Iraqi diplomat speaking to AP on condition of anonymity said, “This is not a good idea. How can we have a ceasefire with terrorists?
“If it was accepted that resistance to a foreign occupation was the right of a people, then results could have been attained at this summit, Diaa Rashwan, expert at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies told The Daily Star Egypt.
Rashwan felt that the summit “will not address the root of the Iraqi issue.
He added: “It’s a summit about internal Iraqi security only, which is an off-shoot of the main issue. There will be no discussions on how long the foreign troops will stay, or whether there will be a timetable for their withdrawal. Therefore the summit is not addressing the core of the problem in Iraq.
“If that was the case, then the US would not have attended, Rashwan added.
An interesting addendum to this conference is the presence of representatives from both Iran and the United States. Tehran will be represented by its Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki who will sit at the same table as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“The developments between Iran, the United States and the West have had a negative effect on Iraq s situation, and the more they have dialogue together the more it will help the Iraqi government s efforts to succeed, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hosyhar Zebari reportedly told the press.
But Rashwan doesn’t believe that US-Iranian relations will improve because of the summit for various reasons.
“Iraq is only one of the issues between Iran and the US. There are also issues concerning bilateral relations and the nuclear question. If there is headway at this summit between them, that might pave the way for further talks, he said.
However “I’m not optimistic because Iran holds the upper hand on the ground, so it does not need to make concessions to the US at this time, Rashwan added.
“The US is in a bind in Iraq, but will it make concessions to Iran because of this? I think not.
