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| Ghosts of Past Buried As Iraq Calls For Aid From Iran |
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Iraqi President Jalal Talabani began his second visit to Iran late Monday for talks with Iranian officials in seeking Iran's help in calming surging violence in Iraq. "We need Iran's comprehensive help to fight terrorism, restore security and stabilize Iraq," Talabani told reporters at Iran's Presidential Office. In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged to support Talabani's request, saying "we will help our Iraqi brothers with all we can to implement and reinforce security in Iraq." Talabani said that his visit to Tehran aimed to "negotiate the expansion of ties in all fields," adding that the talks "will address issues of politics, commerce, oil, culture and security in particular."
The Iraqi president will meet with Iran's Expediency Council Chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani later in Monday and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday. In November 2005, Talabani held a historic meeting with Ahmadinejad as the first Iraqi president to visit Iran in 40 years. Iran also invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for talks, but Syria did not respond. Talabani had planned to visit Iran on Saturday, but delayed his trip after a huge attack on Shiites in Iraq's Sadr City killed over 200 people and caused a three-day curfew in one of the war's worst-ever days of bloodshed. Since Iran is believed by Western countries to wield great influence on Iraqi Shiite military groups, observers have noted that Talabani's Iran tour will seek a call for peace from Iraq's massive Shiite neighbor. However, the United States has said it welcomes any talks that could help stabilize Iraq's violence situation, but doubted the effect of a meeting between Iran, Iraq and Syria. After his midterm elections defeat, US President George W. Bush has been under increasing domestic pressure to forge ties with Iran and Syria to calm the situation in Iraq. Iranian President Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that he would assist the United States to stabilize the current situation in Iraq if Washington changed its "bullying" policy toward Iran. However, the offer appeared to be spurned by the US. "The Iranians have made comments similar to this in the past. There's nothing new there," said Julie Reside, US State Department spokeswoman, on Sunday. (Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2006) |
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