Assyrian Democratic Organization ADO
By Albert Aji
DAMASCUS – Syria – AP
Iran’s foreign minister challenged U.S.
and Iraqi officials Thursday to prove their allegations that his country is meddling in Iraqi affairs.
Kamal Kharrazi, speaking to reporters during a visit to Syria, which has faced similar charges from Washington and Baghdad, said such accusations were meant to “evade reality instead of discussing the crisis and trying to find solutions for it.”
“Those who release accusations should give evidence,” Kharrazi said.
Earlier this month, Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said Iranian and Syrian intelligence agents, plus former operatives from toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s security forces, were cooperating with an al-Qaida-linked group in Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has distanced himself from the allegations, saying the defense minister’s comments were not government policy.
Syria dismissed Shaalan’s accusations as “baseless.” President Bush has warned Iran and Syria that “meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq is not in their interest.”
Kharrazi, who arrived on a previously unannounced visit, held talks Thursday with President Bashar Assad and met with his Syrian counterpart, Farouk al-Sharaa, to discuss events in Iraq and the Palestinian territories, the state news agency said.
Syria and Iran have a close relationship, dating back to the early 1980s when Syria broke Arab ranks and refused to side with former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in his 1980-88 border war with Iran.
Damascus and Tehran opposed Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam last year. But the two countries have had some differences over dealing with post-Saddam Iraq, with Iran backing the Baghdad government while Damascus only halfheartedly deals with it.
Kharrazi, after his meetings, said Jordanian accusations that Iran plans to create a “Shiite crescent” including Syria, Lebanon and Iraq – countries with large Shiite populations – “should not be taken seriously.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned of a possible Shiite hegemony in the region. In an interview with The Washington Post, the king accused Shiite Muslim-dominated Iran of trying to influence the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq, where Shiite candidates are expected to fare well.
Shiites have long constituted the majority in Iraq, but they were held down under dictator Saddam Hussein, who favored the Sunni Muslims, a minority in Iraq but a majority in the Arab and Islamic worlds. Senior Sunni clerics in Iraq have called for a boycott of the vote.
Kharrazi repeated Iranian support for the elections and warned against internal divisions in Iraq. “We want all sects to participate in the elections as it’s high time for the Iraqi people to prove that they are mature,” he said.
23-12-2004
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