Global Arab Network | ‘Terrorist’s tribunal’ - Al-Maliki insists, Al-Assad hits back

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‘Terrorist’s tribunal’ - Al-Maliki insists, Al-Assad hits back

Global Arab Network - - Adam Turner

Monday, 31 August 2009 17:31

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has informed Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is mediating between Iraq and Syria, that the Iraqi government insists on setting up an international tribunal to track down and prosecute the ‘Iraqi terrorists’ based in Syria.

Al-Maliki received at his office Davutoglu who arrived on the onset of a mediation mission between Baghdad and Syria.

The Iraq government accuses Syria of harbouring the terrorists who perpetrated the massive bombing attacks against the Iraqi ministries of foreign affairs and finance in Baghdad on Wednesday.

"Iraq will continue to press for a UN resolution to form an international criminal tribunal for the culprits of those horrible crimes," a government statement quoted Al-Maliki as saying during the meeting.

"The Iraqi government insists on extradition of the two key culprits Mohammad Younes Al-Ahmad and Sutam Farhan from Syria. All criminals who received arrest warrants from the Interpol as well as the Baathists and extremists based in Syria must be extradited," the prime minister underscored.

Al-Maliki recalled that he signed during his latest visit to Syria protocols on the formation of a council for strategic cooperation and two oil pipelines. On his part, Davutoglu said Turkey condemned all forms of terrorism and seeks to restore security and stability to Iraq.

Al-Assad hits back
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said Monday several factors and many parties governed the prospects of the Syrian-Iraqi ties.

"Syria, as one of these parties, seeks to have strong ties with Iraq as well as all other Arab countries without exception," the Syrian state-run TV channel quoted Al-Assad as saying.

"If the Syrian-Iraqi ties are bad, we have to work to improve them. The causes of the problem that soured the bilateral ties are clear," he said.

The Syrian leader was apparently referring to accusation levelled by the Iraq government at Syrian of involvement in the massive bombings that hit the Iraqi ministries of foreign affairs and finance in Baghdad on Wednesday.

He made the remarks in a joint press conference with visiting Cypriot President Demetris Christofias after their meeting.

"When such an accusation is levelled at Syria while Syria hosts 1.2 million Iraqi refugees, we can just say that this is an immoral accusation," the president underscored.

"Syria is accused of sponsoring terrorism while it fought terrorism over long decades when other countries inside and outside the region played host to notorious terrorists. "We can confidently say that this is a politically-motivated accusation," Al-Assad went on to say.

Soon after the Iraqi government accused Syria of involvements in the bombings, Syria asked the Iraqi leaders to send an official delegation to Syria and bring the evidence with them. "So far Syria received no response from Iraq," he regretted.

The Syrian leader affirmed that his government was keen for the safety and security and interests of the Iraqi people on equal footing with the Syrian people.

Since the last week bombings, Iran, a close ally of Syria, has been doing intensive contacts with Damascus and Baghdad to defuse the tension between them.

Iran proposal
Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Motaki arrived on Sunday from Baghdad carrying a proposal to convene a meeting by the foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has also arrived here on Monday on a similar mission of mediation between the two Arab neighbors.

Hailing the regional initiatives, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Mualem said his country has always been seeking to restore the sisterly ties and neighbourliness with Iraq "but all of you know who is responsible for the deterioration of the ties."

Turkish FM from Baghdad to Damascus
After his talks with Al-Maliki, the Turkish minister flew to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on the prospects of improvement of the Syrian-Iraqi ties.

The Turkish foreign minister met upon his arrival Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss ways to address this crisis and discuss the outcome of his talks with Iraqi officials in this regard.

Davutoglu's visit to Damascus comes as part of the intensive diplomatic efforts by Turkey to contain the crisis between Syria and Iraq.

France hopes for normal Syria-Iraq ties
France said on Monday that it was eager to see Syria and Iraq quickly go back to normal ties and resume the "rapprochement" that has been taking place between the two countries throughout this year.

"We hope that Syria and Iraq will very rapidly resume the normal course of their relationship and pursue the rapprochement that they favorably engaged in the past months, notably in promoting high-level visits back and forth," French Foreign Ministry spokesman and future French ambassador to Damascus Eric Chevallier said in answer to questions. (Iraqi Local Press, SyrianTV, SANA, Kuna)

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