DOHA, Nov 23 (AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi urged all Iraqi political and sectarian groups on Tuesday to take part in elections scheduled for January 30.
"I encourage all concerned parties in Iraq to participate in elections because they are decisive and will clear the ground for the future of Iraq," Kharazi told Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where he was attending an international conference on Iraq.
"The elections are important ... to settle the crisis in Iraq," he said, adding that a national council should be elected by the people while a permanent government should be installed and foreign forces withdrawn.
That is why "all Iraqi groups, ethnic and others, should be encouraged to participate in the elections," Kharazi said, according to an Arabic translation of his statements in English.
A communique at the end of the two-day conference stressed a UN role in preparing the elections, condemned "terrorism", kidnapping and the murder of civilians and urged cooperation or at least "non-interference" from neighbouring countries.
Iran, a strict Islamic republic that shares the same Shiite faith as the majority of Iraq`s population, stands to see its regional status boosted if Iraqi Shiites dominate the elections which several Iraqi Sunni groups have threatened to boycott.
Kharazi also confirmed that his country is to host a meeting of the interior ministers of Iraq`s neighbours on November 30 as part of efforts to restore security.
The meeting is to "see how we can help the interim Iraqi government maintain security" and "plan ways ... to help reinforce the police, their equipment and their formation" in Iraq, he added.
The ministers should also "ensure that terrorist groups still present in Iraq do not infiltrate into neighbouring countries," Kharazi said.
11/23/2004 15:09 GMT - AFP