By WAM,
Kuwait : The United Arab Emirates pledged on Tuesday to act through existing bilateral and collective frameworks to serve interests of Iraq and its people in order to sustain march of peace, security and stability in the region and the world at large.
”The states of the Gulf Co-operation Council all share the hope that our whole region may become stable and prosperous. As part of that aspiration, we all look forward to Iraq being a full and active partner, both contributing to the process of development and benefiting from it as this will contribute to maintaining security, stability and prosperity in our region,”UAE Foreign Minister HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said today in a speech at the opening session of the third expanded conference in Kuwait of foreign ministers of Iraq’s neighbouring countries.
”We consider that this meeting, held with the active participation of the GCC states, is, in itself, a positive step. We are neighbours of Iraq, and we all have an interest in it once again becoming, and remaining, a stable, united and prosperous country,” Sheikh Abdullah told the gathering.
He added that :”The recent improvements in the security situation in Iraq are, in our view, a cause for optimism, although there is, of course, much more to be done. We look forward to further improvements in the days, weeks and months ahead, so that the people of Iraq may be spared from a continuation of the cycle of destruction and bloodshed that has afflicted them for so long.
That improvement in the security situation, however, he maintained, will only come about if further progress is made in the continuing efforts to achieve political and national reconciliation in Iraq, something that we all hope will take place.
”We urge all of the parties concerned in this process to continue their efforts to reach agreement and reconciliation. It is only through the achievement of such reconciliation that a prosperous, stable and united Iraq can once again emerge, ready to play its role within our wider region,”he said.
”The Government of the United Arab Emirates remains committed to that objective, and we hope that this meeting will give a further impetus to that process,”he concluded.
The conference was opened by Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah.
Two similar conferences were convened in Egypt and Turkey over the last two years.