Abdul Jalil Mustafa, Arab News

AMMAN, 14 May 2004 — Parliament speakers from eight countries neighboring Iraq ended a two-day conference on Iraq yesterday by condemning as “flagrant violations” the recently divulged abuses by the US-led troops on Iraqi prisoners.

They also called for removal of “terrorist groups” from Iraq that pose threat to neighboring states. “We are incensed at the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment that has been meted out by members of the occupation forces to some of the Iraqis who have been detained,” said a communiqué issued by the meeting that was held under the auspices of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

“We condemn this flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and basic principles of humanity and call for those responsible to be brought to justice,” the statement said.

The conference grouped speakers of legislatures in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Iran and Turkey as well as representatives for the IPU and the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Saudi Arabia’s delegation was led by speaker of the Shoura Council Dr. Saleh ibn Humaid.

“We reaffirm the necessity of removing from Iraqi territory those terrorist and armed groups that constitute a danger for the neighboring countries, and we call upon the Iraqi authorities to extend their full cooperation to this effect,” the communiqué said.

It alluded to alleged Al-Qaeda-linked factions, which moved to Iraq after the downfall of Saddam Hussein and started to plot machinations against neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi, an aide to Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, is believed to act as the mastermind of most of the anti-coalition operations and abortive bombings in Jordan.

However, the speaker of the Jordanian House of Representatives, Abdul Hadi Majali, told reporters after the meeting that delegates “differentiated between acts of terrorism pure and simple and activities of the Iraqi resistance against occupation forces which are considered legitimate under international law”.

The prominent parliamentarians warned against “depleting” Iraqi resources in the rebuilding process and urged contribution by the world community toward that end.

“We call for sustained efforts by the international community to provide humanitarian and reconstruction assistance. We reaffirm that Iraq’s wealth should not be used, nor its natural resources depleted, to implement the reconstruction process,” the statement said. The participants called for “a broader and more central role for the United Nations in Iraq based on a clearly defined, realistic and achievable mandate from the UN Security Council focusing on the political transition in the country”.