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Iraqi Foreign Minister calls on Iran, Syria to control borders |
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Tuesday, 02 August 2005 |
Iran Focus
 London, Aug. 02 – Iraq’s Foreign Minister once again called on Iran and Syria to control their borders to prevent insurgents entering Iraq, in an interview on Tuesday with a London-based Arab daily.
Hoshyar Zebari held the two governments responsible for the flow of foreign fighters and told the daily Asharq al-Awsat that the two neighbours had the power to stop infiltrations but had been unwilling to do so.
"Terrorist elements are infiltrating from neighbouring countries, particularly from Iran and Syria. We have asked the authorities of these countries to control their borders and stop the infiltrations, which are obvious to them. Though Iran and Syria have security organs capable of preventing the infiltrations, they are not stopping them”, Zebari said.
The Iraqi Foreign Minister stressed that his government’s message to the neighbouring countries had been clear at a recent meeting of their interior ministers in Istanbul. “Iraq asked them to stop the infiltrations into its territories and implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions that have become ink on paper”.
“There is variation in the infiltrations from Iraq's neighbouring countries and the danger comes from Syria and Iran”, he added.
On Thursday, Zebari told Al-Iraqiya television that he had complained to Iranian leaders in a recent visit to Tehran that Iran continued to meddle in the affairs of its neighbour.
“We told [the Iranian authorities"> forthright that Iran was meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq, since this is our country and we expect our neighbours to cooperate with us”, Zebari said.
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