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From a Monday, March 3, 2008 entry on Informed Comment, Juan Cole's blog
Ahmadinejad in Baghdad, Day II
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began the second day of his state visit to Iraq on Monday. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called Iran's stance toward Iraq "helpful," contradicting his American allies.
The entire love fest of Ahmadinejad's visit underscores how George W. Bush has inadvertently opened the Iranian sluice gates. Iran is the regional victor in the Iraq War.
On Sunday, Ahmadinejad had jousted with Bush long-distance, saying that there hadn't been any terrorism in that part of the Middle East before Bush invaded Iraq.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said he hoped Ahmadinejad would stay in Iraq "a long time."
Talabani and al-Maliki pledged to try to expel the over 3,000 members of the Iranian terrorist group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from their base at Camp Ashraf in Diyala Province. Although the US says that the MEK has been disarmed, the likelihood is that the real reason for US protection of this group is that it spies for the US on the ayatollahs in Tehran.
Ahmadinejad also called for cooperation in repressing the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), a branch of which has allegedly attacked Iran. But Ahmadinejad implicitly critiqued Turkey's recent incursion into Iraq, saying that whatever steps the neighbors take to fight the PKK, they should respect Iraqi sovereignty.
Al-Hayat notes in Arabic that Ahmadinejad is planning to go on a visitation to Najaf and Karbala and to consult with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
Labels: Iraq
BAGHDAD — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad started on Sunday, March 2, a two-day landmark visit to Iraq where he was warmly greeted by its leaders, taking a jab at US President George Bush, who has 158,000 troops in Iraq.
"We tell Mr. Bush that accusing others will increase the problems of America in the region and will not solve them," Ahmadinejad told a news conference with Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki.
"The Americans have to understand the facts of the region. Iraqi people do not like America."
The Iranian leader also accused the United States of bringing terrorism to the region.
"Six years ago there was no terrorism in our region. As soon as strangers (the Americans) put their foot in the region the terrorists came here."
US officials accuse Iran of training Shiite militias and supplying them with armor-piercing explosives and rockets, charges Tehran denies.
The US military in Iraq also has 14 Iranians in custody.
Maliki said Ahmadinejad's visit "represents the desire of both countries to deepen the joint interests".
He vowed not to allow the Iranian rebel groups Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) and the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) to use Iraqi territory to attack "friends and brothers".
The MEK, listed by the US and EU as a terrorist organization, has won some support from US and European lawmakers for its opposition to the Iranian regime.
Many of Iraq's Shiite leaders were in exile in Iran during Saddam Hussein's long rule and analysts say Ahmadinejad will use his visit to show Washington that Tehran is an influential player in Iraq that cannot be ignored.
Ahmadinejad is the first Iranian president to go to Iraq since Saddam Hussein launched an eight-year war on Iran in 1980, in which one million people died.
He is also the first leader from the region to visit since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Fanfare
Top officials from the US-supported Iraqi government welcomed Ahmadinejad with hugs and kisses on a trip that opens a new phase between former enemies which fought a bitter war in the 1980s.
He held hands with President Jalal Talabani as they walked down a red carpet as a military band played the national anthem.
It was Iraq's first full state welcome for any leader since the 2003 US-led invasion.
Ahmadinejad's motorcade drove from Baghdad's airport to Talabani's presidential palace, eschewing the helicopter trip usually taken by other visiting dignitaries as a security measure.
After a red-carpet welcome at Talabani's residence, he traveled to the heart of the US presence in Iraq -- the Green Zone -- for talks with Maliki, whose office is less than two kilometers from the US embassy.
The fanfare stands in a stark contrast to Bush's rushed and secretive Iraqi visits.
Bush's last visit in September 2007 was to a desert airbase in Anbar province in Iraq's west.
He flew in unannounced to ward off attacks and the visit was over in a few hours.
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