The ministerial level Iraq Compact Annual Review conference will be held in Stockholm on Thursday.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki will co-chair the one-day conference. Although invitations have been sent to all countries, it is expected that foreign ministers and representatives from 80 countries will attend the conference.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will make the opening statement Thursday morning at the conference in suburbs of Stockholm.
Why is the conference to be held in Sweden?
As Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Frank Belfrage explains, Iraqi government likes Europe and the UN to show increased commitment towards Iraq so that peaceful development and reconciliation can be achieved in Iraq.
At the beginning of April, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki asked Sweden to host the conference to review the Sharm Al Sheikh meeting that took place in May 2007, and set the framework for progress and development in Iraq.
Sweden has received 18500 Iraqi refugees last year alone, the highest among western countries. In Sodertalje, a city south of Stockholm alone, 6000 Iraqi refugees were received, which is the combination of the US and Canada's. Sweden has a total of 150,000 Iraqis which makes the country have a strong link to Iraq.
What are expected to be achieved from the Iraq Compact Meeting?
Belfrage said that the international community should feel convinced that there is real progress in Iraq such as reconciliation, spread of wealth, employment, infrastructure, electricity and progress in reference to the hydrocarbons legislation and the provincial elections.
It is also hoped that the UN can present its Human Development plans and concrete projects in Iraq.
The conference represents a one-year review of progress made within the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) framework where Iraq and the UN will present a joint report on its implementation.
The ICI is an initiative of the Iraqi government for a new partnership with the international community. The compact is a five year national plan that includes benchmarks and mutual commitments from both Iraq and the international community.
The compact affirms the Iraqi government's vision that in five years, Iraq shall be a united, federal and democratic country, at peace with its neighbours and itself, well on its way to sustainable economic self-sufficiency and prosperity and well integrated in its region and the world, according to the UN press release after the conference in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt last May.
In addition to the reviewing of the compact, local media also speculated that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will meet at the corridor.
The timetable of American troop withdrawal still not mentioned
Critics to the conference hold that the one day meeting costs too much but can hardly achieve much. It will be more symbolic or media event. That all the participants are from governments also makes it less inclusive while the real reconciliation needs many parties in Iraq.
In an open letter to the Swedish government, a think tank organization TFF in Sweden points out that 'this conference as well as UNSC Resolution 1770 omits every mention of the U.S.-led invasion, the occupation and its consequences since 2003. To discuss the future of Iraq – a "Shared Vision" – without addressing a) the urgent, necessary withdrawal of every occupation soldier and b) the simultaneous introduction of an entirely new, predominantly civilian international presence, is and will remain an intellectual, moral and political 'cul de sac''meaning 'a dead end'.
Analysts hold that it is imperative that the occupation of American troops in Iraq should come to an urgent end sooner rather than later. And the withdrawal is not enough but must be accompanied by a new partnership with the international community.
However, unfortunately, the American government planned to allocate another 165 billion dollars recently to support occupation of Iraq and nothing about a specific withdrawal timetable has been mentioned. At present, there are still 15,500 American soldiers in Iraq.
Iraq used to be a rich country. But after experiencing the Iran-Iraq war, first gulf war, 15 years of UN sanctions and the US invasion since 2003, millions of Iraqis have become refugees either in their own country or in surrounding countries as well as in Europe and American continent.
Large scale demonstrations are expected
It's expected that those who are against the American invasion of Iraq will hold demonstrations both in the Stockholm city center and at the conference venue, 45 minutes away from the city center by public transport. Since Rice will attend the conference, the slogan online is written as 'Condoleezza, go home.'
By Xuefei Chen People's Daily Online correspondent in Stockholm.
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