Stop proxy war urges Iraq
by Mark Summers from Gulf Daily News (Bahrain)
In a strongly worded address on the closing day of a major security meeting in Bahrain, Iraq's national security adviser Dr Mowaffak Al Rubaie stated, "From where we sit in Baghdad and from an Iraqi perspective, we look at the region and see competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran has turned into conflict on the soil of Iraq." He told delegates at the Manama Dialogue, "We cannot continue playing Tehran and co versus Riyadh and co, otherwise we will continue suffering in this region." ... Dr Al Rubaie was clear that much of the instability in his country bore the fingerprints of its neighbours. "Some of the regional countries are helping fuel the sectarian conflict and maintaining the political stagnation in my country." ... "If GCC countries continue to be imprisoned by their paranoia or scepticism of Iranian influence on the central government of Iraq, of Shia-Kurd dominance of Baghdad, for how long is it going to go on?" he asked. "What you have in Iraq is a democratic, parliamentary constitutional system, and that is what you have to accept."