By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press WriterTue Feb 13, 5:35 PM ET
Iraq's neighbors should refrain from intervening in its affairs and should not be under the illusion that they will benefit from the difficulties facing the country, Iraq's foreign minister said Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iraq plans to host a conference next month bringing together foreign ministers from its neighbors, plus a few other countries, including Egypt, to discuss the issue.
"We don't want Iraq to be the battleground for settling scores at the cost of the Iraqi people," Zebari told reporters shortly after officially opening Iraq's Embassy in Riyadh.
The embassy inside the Diplomatic Quarter was closed after Saddam Hussein's troops invaded neighboring Kuwait in August 1990. Saudi Arabia and Iraq restored relations in July 2004, more than a year after Saddam's regime collapsed. The embassy began functioning with a skeletal staff in November 2005.
"We are very pleased and honored today to raise the Iraqi flag again in the sky of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh," Zebari said.
"We appreciate very much the Saudi government position toward supporting the Iraqi people and backing their move toward stability and security and for their support for the political process," he said.
Zebari also held talks with Crown Prince Sultan and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal to discuss the new security plan to try to stem the violence in Baghdad.
Zebari said Iraq's neighbors have a duty to help stabilize the situation in his country.
"Iraq's neighbors have a responsibility ... to refrain from intervening in its internal affairs," Zebari said. "We have tried to engage these countries constructively to stop meddling in our internal affairs, but this is a process. It won't happen overnight."
Zebari refused to name any country in particular, but the United States has blamed Iran and Syria for fueling the crisis in Iraq. Damascus and Tehran have denied the allegations.
"Nobody should have any illusion" that they could benefit from Iraq's difficulties, Zebari said.
"Imagine tomorrow these terror networks will spread, this chaos will spread, the sectarian violence will spread," he added. "Then they have to blame themselves."
Zebari, whose country has mounted a diplomatic initiative with Damascus in recent weeks, said Iraq has worked to restore relations with Syria and to establish security commissions.
Results, he said, will come after the two countries establish security commissions to control their long border that insurgents use to infiltrate into Iraq.