CAIRO, Egypt — Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari took his country's seat at the Arab League on Tuesday, settling a dispute in the pan-Arab body over whether to recognize a government set up by Iraq's U.S. occupiers.
Wearing a black suit, Zebari, an Iraqi Kurd, sat down at the league's circular table behind little Iraqi flag, becoming Iraq's first envoy to the league since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in April. He smiled as a bevy of photographers took his picture.
"The new Iraq will be different from that of Saddam Hussein," Zebari said in his first remarks to the meeting. "The new Iraq will be based on diversity, democracy, constitution, law and respect for human rights.
"The new Iraq will stand firm against terrorism, from which it is now suffering," Zebari added, referring to the series of car-bombings and shootings that have killed more than 100 civilians in recent weeks.
Iraq's seat on the league had been empty since U.S. and British forces toppled Saddam in April. When the occupiers appointed the interim Iraqi Governing Council in July, the league refused to recognize it, saying it would wait until Iraq had a government elected by its people.
The other members of the 22-member league decided to accept Zebari earlier Tuesday after a late night, six-hour debate.
League Undersecretary-General Ahmed bin Helli read out the resolution that granted provisional recognition to the Iraqi Governing Council, which appointed Zebari as foreign minister just last week.
The Iraqi foreign minister will be welcome for one year, after which the league will review Iraq's representation and its progress toward forming a government, bin Helli said. He also called on the interim Iraqi leadership to advise the league of its plans for drafting a constitution and forming a permanent government.
Zebari sought to reassure his colleauges. "I would like to stress that the Iraqi Governing Council will do its utmost for Iraq to return to being a fully sovereign, independent state," the foreign minister said.
By winning increased legitimacy, the Governing Council helps boost U.S. plans to establish a moderate, representative Iraqi government to replace Saddam's bloody three-decade rule.
Washington has said a new, democratically appointed government in Iraq could also act as a catalyst for reform throughout the Middle East, where most countries have been ruled for generations by royal families or regimes.
When told of the league's decision to accept the Iraqi foreign minister, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, James Cunningham, said: "That's a positive step."
Member governments were reluctant to embrace a U.S.-appointed body lest it appear they were endorsing the March 20 invasion of Iraq — an offensive that was strongly opposed at street level in the Arab world.
However, pressure mounted on the league to change its mind. Last month the U.N. Security Council welcomed the creation of the Governing Council as an interim government for Iraq. And Kuwait, followed by other Gulf Arab states, pushed for the league to recognize the Cabinet for Iraq that the Governing Council appointed Sept. 1.
Iraqis generally welcomed the Arab League recognition, but many said they felt it had been granted under U.S. pressure.
"The positive stand was imposed on them by America and its hegemony. They must have had a telephone call directing them to agree," said Ibrahim Hammadi Suud, a clan chief from Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad,
Others believed the league acted in the interest of all Arabs.
"I believe, the Arab League today behaved wisely. If they opposed Iraq's participation they could have pushed this Arab country to throw itself in the lap of colonialism, America and Israel," salesman Bassam Abdul-Razzaq said.
Zebari arrived in Cairo on Monday determined to take Iraq's seat at the meeting of league foreign ministers.
"This is our right. We are claiming our legitimate right to be here and to be represented," he told reporters shortly after his arrival. "Our message is: We're the representatives of de facto Iraqi authority."
Zebari, 50, had been among the Iraqi exiles who worked with Washington in the war to topple Saddam. He represented the Kurdistan Democratic Party in London and Washington for several years. He speaks English and Arabic fluently.
Tuesday's move enhances the Governing Council's chances of being allowed to take Iraq's seat when the U.N. General Assembly convenes in New York later this month.
The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiyah, has been quoted as saying the oil cartel will invite the Governing Council's oil minister to its Sept. 24 meeting in Vienna, Austria, if the United Nations recognizes the interim Iraqi government.
Iraq has the world's second-largest reserves of crude, but its industry is producing well below capacity owing to continuing sabotage, the effects of the war, and years of neglect under U.N. sanctions.
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