Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday sought Iran's help in reining in violence in his war-torn country, meeting with a top ally that the United States accuses of fueling Iraq's turmoil by backing Shi'ite militants.
It was the Iraqi premier's second visit to Teheran in less than a year, coming days after US and Iranian experts held talks in Baghdad on improving Iraq's security.
Al-Maliki and the Shi'ite and Kurdish parties that dominate his government are closely linked to Iran, and the prime minister has struggled to balance those ties with the United States, Teheran's top rival in the region.
The US has stepped up its allegations that Iran is arming Shi'ite militiamen, but the Iraqi government has taken a low-key stance without outright backing the American claims, which Teheran denies. One al-Maliki adviser, Sami al-Askari, said last month that the government "doesn't rule out" Iranian arming of militants.
In Baghdad, US troops and warplanes struck militants in the Shi'ite district of Sadr City, killing 32 suspected militants and detaining 12 others. The US military said the militants were involved in smuggling weapons from Iran and sending militiamen to Iran for training.
Al-Maliki's visit came as officials from Iraq and its neighbors, including Iran, held a conference in Damascus on improving Iraq's security. At the gathering, Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Labib Abbawi pressed countries to do more to stop infiltration of fighters and weapons over their borders into iraq.
Al-Maliki met in Teheran with Iranian Vice-President Parviz Davoodi and was to hold talks later with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.
"We want to promote economic ties and other ties that contribute to combating terrorism and its challenges," al-Maliki said on the plane to Iran.
He said Iraq and Iran "have joint understanding that they are keen to solve problems and sufferings of Iraqi people. And they are both convinced that their cooperation may lead to helping Iraq and restoring stability."
Al-Maliki said he would also discuss and sign a number of cooperation memorandums with Teheran. He did not elaborate.
In an apparent gesture of welcome, Iran's Payam state radio played Arab-style belly dancing music early yesterday, a rare event in the country, where state broadcasters shun such music because of the strict Islamic rule.
Before arriving in Iran, al-Maliki traveled to Turkey and agreed to root out a Kurdish rebel group from northern Iraq. He said parliament would have the final say on efforts to halt the guerrillas' cross-border attacks into Turkey. Iran also faces problems with its Kurdish minority near the Iraqi border.
Turkey has threatened to stage an incursion into northern Iraq unless Iraq or the United States cracks down on separatist Kurdish rebels. The envisaged counterterrorism agreement is aimed at forcing Iraq to officially commit itself to fighting the rebels.
Source: China Daily/agencies
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