By DPA
London : Leading figures involved in peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and South Africa have held talks with representatives from Iraq’s warring Sunni and Shiite Arab factions aimed at promoting peace and stability in the country, reports in Britain said Tuesday.
The four-day talks took place at a secret location in Finland and resulted in an agreement among the participants to consider a series of principles on non-violence.
They were chaired by the deputy leader of Northern Ireland’s regional government, Martin McGuinness of the Irish Republican party Sinn Fein, and former South African government minister Roelf Meyer, the BBC reported.
The seminar was attended by about 30 representatives of Iraq’s warring Shiite and Sunni Arab factions, according to the reports.
The faction leaders had agreed to consult further on a series of recommendations, labelled the Helsinki agreement.
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.
The seminar, chaired by McGuinness, was organised by the Crisis Management Initiative, a group headed by the former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who served as an independent inspector of arms dumps of the now inactive Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Northern Ireland.