By DPA
London : Participants in secret peace talks between warring Sunni and Shia Arab factions in Iraq Tuesday reported that major progress had been made towards setting out a “roadmap for peace” for the war-torn country.
Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein politician and deputy leader of the regional government of Northern Ireland, said Tuesday that “huge strides” towards peace had been made during four days of talks at a secret location in Finland.
Participants had committed themselves to a 12-point plan outlining principles of non-violence and democracy, and dubbed the Helsinki Agreement.
The Guardian newspaper described the plan as a “roadmap for peace.”
McGuinness, who co-chaired the seminar together with reformist former South African government minister Roelf Meyer, described the talks Tuesday as a “major stepping stone towards a resolution of conflict in the troubled region.”
“There is no doubt whatsoever that the message from these talks is that we need to do things differently, we need to come together, we need to recognize that, whatever our differences, the only way forward is to unite,” said McGuinness.
He described the participants from Iraq as “power-brokers and people with enormous influence in that country.”
“We await with interest what will happen from here,” added McGuinness during a briefing of reporters in Belfast.
The seminar was organized by reconciliation group Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), which is headed by former President Martti Ahtisaari.
It was attended by about 30 representatives of Iraq’s warring Shia and Sunni Arab factions, according to the reports.
The 12 points contained clear echoes of the principles of non-violence and democracy proposed by former US Senator George Mitchell, which paved the way for the 1998 Good Friday Agreement peace agreement in Northern Ireland.
In addition to pledging to resolve political differences peacefully, the agreement commits the Iraqi parties to consider the creation of a disarmament commission, and the formation of a group to deal with the legacy of Iraq’s past.
They also seek an end to international and regional interference in Iraq’s affairs.
Among the groups reportedly represented at the talks were representatives of the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the largest Sunni Arab political group, Adnan al-Dulaimi, and Human Hammoudi, the Shia chairman of the Iraqi parliament’s foreign affairs committee, the Guardian reported.
Other participants from Northern Ireland included Protestant politician Jeffrey Donaldson and former Protestant extremist leader Billy Hutchinson.
South Africa was represented by Meyer and Mac Maharaj, a member of the first unity government of Nelson Mandela and former African National Congress (ANC) activist.
Participants agreed to “deal with militias” by arming and training security forces to become an “effective national force,” while also fostering economic development.
Members of armed groups that “are classified as terrorists” would be encouraged to adopt “peaceful political means” and given jobs within the state administration.
McGuinness said that while the political situations in South Africa, Ireland and Iraq were “quite different,” there were key lessons to be learnt.
“The important lesson to learn is that if people are serious about bringing about peace in their country, that can only be done through an inclusive negotiating process,” he said.