Brussels, 19/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - After their meeting on Monday 19 November with Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, EU foreign ministers stressed the importance of dialogue and cooperation between Iraq and its neighbours. In their conclusions document, they stress the obligation on Iraq's neighbours of contributing to political stability in Iraq, whose territorial integrity has to be preserved. The Council encourages the Iraqi government to take all necessary measures to promote stability through an effective national reconciliation process and welcomes the setting up, at the ministerial summit of Iraq's neighbours in Istanbul on 2 and 3 November 2007, of a mechanism to deal with the technical aspects of the process. In this connection, it welcomed the decision to convene a meeting of the working groups on energy, security, refugees and displaced persons and hopes the said meeting will take place as soon as possible. The Council says it is prepared to participate and provide expertise, hoping all neighbouring countries will make a constructive contribution.
The Iraqi government and its neighbours are also urged to provide assistance to vulnerable groups, particularly refugees and displaced persons in their countries, and to promote the protection of human rights. The ministers stress the need for cooperation between Iraq and Turkey on anti-terrorism. They call on the Iraqi authorities and the regional government in Kurdistan to take appropriate measures to guarantee respect of the Turkish border and ensure Iraqi territory is not used to carry out violent attacks on its neighbours. (A.B.)