US withdrawal only solution for Iraq's dilemma, says Ahmadinejad

dpa German Press Agency Published: Thursday April 26, 2007

Tehran- The only solution to end the dilemma in Iraq was to
withdraw the United States forces from Iraq and leave all state
affairs to the Iraqi government, Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said Thursday.
Ahmadinejad told visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
that "end of occupation" was the only way to return security and
stability to Iraq.

"Continuation of killing of innocent people indicates the weakness
of the occupiers in establishing security in Iraq; the occupiers are
currently in their weakest phase following the invasion of Iraq,"
Ahmadinejad was quoted by ISNA news agency as saying.

The president reiterated that Iran was affected more than the
other neighbouring states by the insecurity in Iraq and would
therefore support and stand by the government in Baghdad.

Zebari once again asked Iran to attend the international
conference on Iraq scheduled for May 1- 4 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Despite lengthy talks Wednesday in Tehran between Zebari and his
Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran has not yet decided
whether to attend the conference and just said the decision would
soon be announced.

Tehran says that Iran's problem was "venue and contents" as it had
initially been planned that the neighbouring countries of Iraq plus
Egypt and Bahrain would meet first to consult about the formation and
agenda of the conference before finalizing the date and venue.

Another issue is the detainment of Iranian diplomats by US forces.
Tehran has several times rejected press speculations that their
release would be Tehran's main condition for attending the
conference.

Iran's attendance would also enable the first-ever direct contact
between Mottaki and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice although
Mottaki termed such a scenario as premature.

Tehran considers any interference by other countries as not only
unconstructive but also a source for the escalation of violence.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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