Brussels, 30/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 29 May, the United Nations special representative for Iraq, Martin Kobler, called on the European Union to be more concerned about Iraq. “The UN is rather isolated in Iraq. We need an ally who, for us, can only be the EU, in order to have political support”, he told the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee. Underlining that the EU-Iraq partnership and cooperation agreement is very important, Kobler said that the EU needs to insist on a political role in Iraq. In his view, the international community - which is worried about the situation in Syria - is neglecting Iraq, when in fact they are “two sides of the same coin”. “Iraq must be brought back to the centre of the international scene among the different actors of the region”, he said. “Iraq finds itself today at the crossroads. There is a risk of a considerable step backwards (…). The spectre of civil war is beginning to hover”, Kobler warned.
Stating that it is important for the EU to continue to tell the political leaders that it is their responsibility not to let Iraq disintegrate (see EUROPE 10832), Kobler said that the EU should take a more practical approach and be “more present in the projects” on justice, human rights, and prison administration with the training of guards. “This is where the EU can come in and visibly show its engagement”, he said.
Kobler also called on the MEPs to take action so that the Iraqi parliament might fulfil its role - which it is not doing, in his opinion (see EUROPE 10817). “You should establish contact with the parliamentarians in Iraq, with a parliament to parliament action plan”, he suggested, regretting that the relationship between the two parliaments focuses essentially on the Camp Ashraf situation. “That's monopolising your relations with the government and parliament”, he regretted, calling also for a discussion on human rights and torture. In addition, he encouraged the MEPs to talk with their governments so that their governments might take in residents from Camp Ashraf.
Often criticised by MEPs on the issue of his work on Camps Ashraf and Liberty, Kobler gave his version of the situation. “For the moment everything is blocked”, he said, highlighting several issues such as the lack of cooperation from the residents, the highly probably expulsion of 100 people who stayed in Ashraf to watch over their goods and whom the Iraqi government considers as illegal, and the problem of control in Camp Liberty - with a lack of freedom of movement or means of communication (no internet or mobile phone). Monitors from international organisations have ever greater difficulty in having private conversations with the residents of the camp, Kobler explained. “For us, it's a humanitarian problem and not a property or legal problem”, he stressed (our translation throughout). (CG/transl.fl)