HE the Foreign Minister Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah meeting with Iraqi President Dr Fuad Masum in Baghdad yesterday.
QNA
Baghdad
HE the Foreign Minister Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah yesterday stressed Qatar’s commitment to ending violence in Iraq while maintaining the country’s unity.
In a joint press conference with Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, al-Attiyah said they had held a series of meetings reviewing bilateral relations and discussing ways to enhance them.
They discussed resuming the work of Qatar’s embassy in Baghdad as well as the latest regional and international developments, al-Attiyah added.
“We have agreed to open the Qatari embassy in Baghdad to begin resuming diplomatic work,” the AFP news agency quoted al-Jaafari as saying in the news conference.
Al-Attiyah said that his visit reflected Qatar’s keenness on the security and unity of Iraq.
He expressed Qatar’s confidence in the Iraqi authorities’ ability to end the violence in parts of the country.
He added that Qatar had asked the authorities in Iraq to forget their different ethnicities and work together to unite all Iraqis and end terrorism.
On terrorism, al-Attiyah said that the international community was facing it everywhere and as a result everyone must join hands to exterminate it from its roots. He said that Qatar believed national reconciliation would lead to a qualitative leap in facing terrorism. He noted that a “real national reconciliation” was crucial in Iraq.
Al-Attiyah stressed Qatar’s position which condemns terrorism in all its forms.
On winning the right to host World Cup 2022, the Foreign Minister said the tournament “will benefit the entire Arab World and its youth”.
He highlighted the racist motives behind some of the press campaigns against Qatar. He added that if the same journalists had put their efforts in unravelling the crimes in Syria, a solution would have been found to the crisis that would have ended the rule of the current Syrian administration.
On whether Al Jazeera television network reflected Doha’s policies, the Foreign Minister said that Qatar enjoyed media freedom. Al-Attiyah then added that Qatar looked to interact with other governments through official means, and not through using a television network.
On the efforts of the Arab coalition to back the legitimate power in Yemen, he stressed that what the GCC was doing in Yemen was not an interference in that country’s affairs because it was in response to the request made by the Yemeni administration. It was also in accordance with article 51 of the UN Charter.
Earlier yesterday, Iraqi President Dr Fuad Masum met with al-Attiyah.
Al-Attiyah conveyed greetings of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to the Iraqi president and wishes of progress and prosperity for the fraternal Iraqi people.
The meeting reviewed bilateral relations and ways to enhance them in addition to a set of issues of mutual interest.
Al-Attiyah also held talks with Iraqi Vice President Iyad Alawi and parliament speaker Dr Salim al-Jabouri.