Arab League chief satisfied with visit to Iraq

In line with the preliminary results of the vote on the constitution, the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, who concluded a visit to Iraq, said that he is satisfied following the talks he held with various Iraqi forces, but he stressed that he had realized the difficulties impeding the Arab initiative aiming at convening an Iraqi national reconciliation conference.

In statements to press who accompanied him on his way to Cairo, Moussa said that the extent of the Iraqi response to the Arab League initiative was high and positive, noting that the matter requires more consultations with the Iraqi side by all its components, and with certain proposals concerning dates and participants in the conference and preparations for it.

Moussa said that the Arab League assistant secretary general for political affairs Ahmad Bin Hali will lead an Arab League delegation to Iraq within one week in order to maintain an understanding over other details of the initiative, stressing that he received the support of leaders of the political forces and parties, Christian and Islamic religious clerics, and all sects of the Iraqi people with whom he had met over the initiative.

Iraqi figures had stressed that a preliminary conference for the Iraqi national reconciliation conference will be held on November 15 in Cairo. However, this information was not officially confirmed.