Iraq says neighbours must cooperate on refugees
Source: Reuters
RIYADH, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Iraq's neighbours must work to improve security in the strife-torn country to halt a flood of Iraqi refugees in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have fled abroad since sectarian violence took a hold after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, threatening a full-scale civil war. "This movement of Iraqi refugees is a case in point -- I mean, nobody should have any illusion that ... they will benefit from our continued difficulties in Iraq. The spillover can affect them, and with this number of people that have left, they (neighbours) are already complaining," Zebari told reporters. "So imagine tomorrow these terror networks will spread, the chaos will spread, the sectarian violence will spread -- they (neighbours) have to blame themselves," said Zebari, who reopened the Iraqi embassy in Riyadh after 17 years of closure. "The aim is to bring refugees back to their country but this depends on an improvement in the security situation," he said, citing up to 600,000 Iraqis in Jordan, 250,000 in Syria and 100,000 in Egypt. He said some were in the Gulf Arab countries. Zebari said a meeting of countries neighbouring Iraq would take place in Baghdad next month ahead of an Arab summit in Riyadh in late March. He discussed regional help on Iraq's security earlier with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal. Zebari said Iraq had not decided yet if its eastern neighbour Syria was complying with measures to control borders. "I think there has been considerable progress to reengage them positively. To hold them to their commitments -- this needs some procedures," he said. The United States accuses Syria and Iran -- who oppose the U.S. military presence and political influence in the region -- of worsening the security situation. Washington this week laid out evidence it says proves Iranian weapons are being smuggled into Iraq to be used in attacks against U.S. troops. "The Americans have recently shown evidence and so on, but it's their investigation not ours," Zebari said. Many elements in the Shi'ite-dominated Iraqi government are close allies of Shi'ite power Iran.
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