By NNN-KUNA,
Amman : The fifth conference of interior ministers of Iraq, six neighboring countries, Egypt and Bahrain, is due to get underway here on Thursday with the Arab League and other international organizations taking part.
The preparatory committee discussed over the last two days a number of key security issues including the anti-terrorism campaign, the control over cross-border infiltrations from and into Iraq and ways to help Iraq restore stability and security.
The participants renewed support for Iraq in the face of terrorism and violence and reasserted the importance of Iraq’s unity, safety and territorial integrity.
Thursday’s conference gathers interior ministers of nine countries namely, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey. The two-day conference is expected to review the prospects of coordination among the security bodies in the nine countries for helping Iraq to deal with terrorism, infiltration of militants through its borders and systematic crime.
The conference gains added significance as it comes at a time when the Iraqi government is locked in protracted talks with the United States over the draft long-term security pact, diplomats said.
“Iraq pins high hopes on the conference which is pivotal to our security and stability,” Iraqi Minister of Interior Jawad Al-Bulani told reporters here ahead of the conference.
He voiced gratitude to Iraq’s neighboring countries for their sincere desire to enhance security cooperation with, and restore stability to, his country.
The conferees will debate the future of some two million Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries, particularly in Jordan and Syria, they added.
The last meeting of interior ministers of Iraq’s neighbors, hosted by Kuwait on October 23, 2007, affirmed determination of participants work together to combat terrorism and violence, restore Iraq’s stability and avoid interference in Iraq’s domestic affairs.
Participants in that meeting acknowledged Kuwait’s leading role in Iraq’s stabilization and reconstruction.
The chain of such annual meetings started in 2004, a year after toppling former Iraqi regime.