Iraq to ask Iran, Turkey for border help
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-22 20:44

Iraq will ask Iran and Turkey for border security arrangements to keep foreign militants out, similar to measures already agreed with Syria, the Iraqi Foreign Minister said on Monday.

Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters in an interview that Iraq will bring up its request when the interior ministers of the countries bordering Iraq meet in the Iranian capital Tehran on Nov. 30.

"We hope we will do such a thing similar to what we have done with Syria, with Turkey soon... With the Iranians actually we need such an arrangement," he said.

Iran's Interior Ministry said Tehran had invited Iraq's neighbors and Egypt to the Nov. 30 meeting "to find ways of helping and improving Iraqi people's situation."

Syria said earlier this month it had reached a border cooperation deal with Iraq and began building sand barriers along parts of the border. Damascus gave no details of the border cooperation deal.

The United States has said Syria had shown a new readiness to work with U.S. forces in Iraq to stop arms, militants and money reaching Iraqi insurgents.

Zebari said a mechanism was already in place with Syria to prevent infiltration and aid reaching the insurgents.

With Turkey, the main problem is the existence in northern Iraq of armed members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- Turkish Kurds seeking an independent state in southeast Turkey.

"We are trying to do a similar thing with Turkey... We have in fact approached them and suggested a similar mechanism to address this issue," Zebari said.

"There are a number of border security issues between Iraq and Turkey -- the presence of anti-Turkish elements, let's say, PKK in Iraq," he added.

The Iraqi minister is in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for an international conference on the political future of Iraq. More than 20 foreign ministers are expected.

The meeting of interior ministers in Tehran was agreed at a meeting in Cairo in July but it has taken months to organize.

Iran has close historic ties with the Shi'ite Muslims of southern Iraq and there is extensive cross-border activity. Syria similarly has ties with the people of northwestern Iraq.

Both countries have long borders with Iraq and the United States does not have enough forces in Iraq to seal them.

In August Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim al-Shaalan called Iran Baghdad's prime enemy. Other members of the Iraqi government distanced themselves from his remarks.

Zebari said his government welcomed the Sharm el-Sheikh conference as a chance for the world to express support for the political transition in Iraq, where elections to a constituent assembly are scheduled to take place on Jan. 30.

"For the first time, after the war, after the regime change all the countries...are coming together collectively to discuss what they can do collectively to help Iraq," he said.

A draft communique expected to come out on Tuesday endorses the electoral process and advises the Iraqi government to broaden the political process by bringing in other groups.

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