Irish and South African Peace Makers Attend Peace Conference in Baghdad
Submitted by Nick Kelly on July 5, 2008 - 3:31pm.
Cyril Ramaphosa | Helsinki Conference | Iraq | Lessons from Irish History | Martin McGuinness | Current Events
Cyril Ramaphosa and Martin McGuinness were amongst the attendees at a conference on national reconciliation in Baghdad that brought together politicians from across Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divide.
The Baghdad conference brought together Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs as well as Kurds....
It followed earlier meetings in Finland organised by the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), a non-governmental body headed by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who has been active in talks involving divided communities in Kosovo and the Indonesian province of Aceh since his presidency ended.
Here is my diary describing the first in the series of meetings, as well as the agreement which led to this one in Baghdad.
Politics being what it is, there may be some significance in the SA representative change that I am not aware of. However, I have no reason to think there is. As the original Sunni and Shia reps were not disclosed publicly at the time, I am uncertain regarding that matter also. However, suffice to say that the Iraqi political parties must be doing everything they can to encourage this reconciliation effort, because otherwise I can't imagine how it could have moved to Baghdad. I don't think there is anything more than acceptance coming from the US government. I suspect that the British intelligence agencies have kept a close eye on this and advised the CIA that it could be helpful. George Mitchell has probably agreed without attribution of course.
Anyway, I agree that this is a good sign. McGuinness and Ramaphosa are both real first hand experts on matters of reconciliation. I don't think the Sunni and Shia could ask for better consultants.
If I were advising a Democratic Presidential candidate, I would suggest they get someone to follow all of this very closely. It could be a very helpful vehicle to further peace negotiations - and if not (in the event that it is going nowhere or worse) - it could provide specific lessons in what not to do.
Nick Kelly
Wes Clark could still secure America as a national security candidate.
I see the McGuinnes name is the same, but the other name is different. Is that significant? Do you know if the Sunni and Shia representatives are same--i.e. is there personal continuity that allows for building on the base from last year's meeting. Are there other nation's representatives involved? (I guess I could Google and find out for myself, but you're always such a great source of info.)
Once upon a time the U.S. was the leader in these kinds of things. No more, thanks to Bush and the PNAC. I am certainly glad other nations aren't waiting for us as hell would freeze over first.