Mubarak meets Iraqi independents' bloc delegation
Egypt-Iraq, Politics, 4/24/2003

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak met with a delegation of the Iraqi Independents' bloc on Wednesday.

The delegation includes former Iraqi officials as Foreign Minister Adnan Bijaji and Industry Minister Adeeb Al-Jader as well as the former Chairman of the Arab Human Rights Organization.

Bijaji described the meeting as excellent, saying Mubarak made clear that the Iraqis should run their country's affairs on their own and that the crisis should be drawn to a close as soon as possible.

'Mubarak gave his support for the Iraqis' demand for a UN central role in setting up a provisional government in their country,' he added.

'There was no need for Washington to set up a civil US administration under former general Jay Garner to run Iraq's postwar affairs as the Iraqis are very much capable of doing the job themselves,' the former Iraqi Minister said.

'A provisional Iraqi government should be precipitously formed to take over full power from Garner,' Bijaji said.

Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher said that Egypt welcomed the visit to Cairo by Bijaji and Adeeb Al-Jar, and Adeeb Al-Jar, prominent political and international figures in Iraq.

He said that Egypt's welcome of the Iraqi figures' visit asserted its keenness on the Iraqi issue and future of Iraq.

Maher said that Egypt confirmed to the two Iraqi figures that it stood with the Iraqi people to get out of their ordeal and enable the Iraqis to run their own affairs.

The Foreign Minister said that the meeting was a chance to talk about the Egyptian attitude towards Iraq, which was declared by President Hosni Mubarak and emanated from the Principles of the Egyptian people.

He expressed Egypt's readiness to receive any figures that want to rebuild Iraq's future.

Foreign Minister Maher called on occupation troops in Iraq to abide by the Geneva Convention articles, stressing the importance of accelerating the formation of an interim government in Iraq to be chosen by the Iraqi people.

Maher expressed hope for shortening the time of the US military presence in Iraq in order to allow the Iraqi people to choose their government within the framework of a unified and sovereign Iraq.

Previous Stories:
  Maher receives former Iraqi foreign minister   (4/23/2003)
  Al-Baz: Egypt rejects US administration in Iraq   (4/22/2003)
  Egypt objects to appointment of military ruler in Iraq, rejects threats against Syria   (4/19/2003)

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