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Minister for Foreign Affairs
The Government shares the widespread concern at the very dangerous and
difficult situation in Iraq. The appalling security situation, and
especially the continuing spiral of vicious sectarian violence, dominate
all developments. As a result, the political and reconstruction efforts
of Iraq's first fully sovereign and democratic Government have
effectively been blocked. A number of security efforts have so far
failed to control the violence. There is a clear obligation on all
parties to cooperate to end this nightmare situation for the Iraqi
people.
Baghdad has been the worst affected area in recent months. As Deputies
are aware, the U.S. has despatched an additional 25,000 troops to Iraq,
with the specific objective of combating the terrible violence in the
city. It is clear that there are major risks with any such strategy, but
also that there is now no course of action in Iraq which is without
risk. This latest security operation is visibly a joint one, undertaken
with Iraqi forces. Its aim is to remove Shia militias from the streets,
as well as to combat Sunni insurgents. The intention is to retain
control of and establish administration in each area as it is cleared of
violence, and to reconstruct and restore essential services. During my
discussions in the Middle East last month, Arab political leaders
emphasised that they fully supported the objectives of this initiative.
Some initial success has been reported, but it remains too early to
judge its effectiveness at this stage.
The Government has emphasised consistently that security operations will
only succeed in the longer term in the context of a broadly political
approach. It remains essential to work creatively to engage the Sunni
community in the political system, including in the review of provisions
of the democratically-approved Constitution for Iraq. The recent
approval by the Iraqi Government of a new law to divide oil revenues
more equitably among the regions may also prove to be an important step
in this regard.
The Government continues to believe that a secure and peaceful Iraq can
only be assured through the maintenance of its territorial integrity,
the development of shared political and other institutions and the
consolidation of strong political and economic links with all the
countries of the neighbouring region. We believe that the regional
conference held in Baghdad on 10 February was a particularly significant
initiative by the Iraqi Government. All the participants committed
themselves to assisting the Government to stabilise and regain control
of their country, so that it can regain its place in the region. It is
essential now that the pledges made be lived up to. The conference has
established working groups on security, on refugees and displaced
persons, and on fuel and energy. It is important that agreement be
reached as soon as possible on the timing and venue of the follow-up
regional meeting at Ministerial level.
The principal concern of the Government and our EU partners is obviously
for the welfare of the Iraqi people, as they attempt to rebuild their
country after years of dictatorship and war. The EU has provided over
€700 million in assistance for reconstruction since 2003. Last month,
the Government announced a pledge of a further €3 million in assistance
for the victims of the current violence, in particular the large numbers
of families who have been forced to flee their homes, and are displaced
in Iraq or are forced to live as refugees abroad. This represents a
substantial increase on the €7.9 million already provided by the
Government for humanitarian assistance in Iraq. Last week, we also
announced the allocation of a further €100,000 to support the UN
Assistance Mission in Iraq. |
