Moscow supports meeting of Iraqi ethnic, religious leaders

Moscow, April 11, Interfax - Russia supports Jordan's initiative to hold a meeting of Iraqi religious and ethnic groups in Amman, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"This should be done in order to achieve a national consensus and to create conditions for implementing the Arab League's initiative to hold a national consensus conference in Baghdad," Lavrov said at a Tuesday briefing in Moscow.

Moscow is interested in "the swiftest possible formation of the national consensus government in Iraq, representing the interests of all ethnic and political groups and confessions," the minister said.

"Russia, including through our embassy in Baghdad, supports contacts with all Iraqi patriotic forces that speak for preserving unity in the country by means of national consensus," he said.

"In our contacts we affirm that we are interested in the triumph of national consensus in Iraq as soon as possible," Lavrov said.