In secret talks in Helsinki, Finland last weekend, influential Sunni and Shia leaders from Iraq agreed to a set of principles reminiscent of those which set in motion the road to the historic Good Friday Agreement ("GFA" aka "Belfast Agreement") of 1998. The "Helsinki Agreement" is far shorter and much less detailed than the GFA, but it is an important beginning in which opposing leaders recognize that further peaceful discussions must take place in order to bring an end to the conflict.
Co-chaired by Ireland's Martin McGuinness and South Africa's Roelf Meyer, these initial discussions did not include any direct participants from either the occupying powers or the insurgents in Iraq. However, it is hoped that follow-up meetings will include participation by representatives of insurgent groups.
The Iraqi delegates taking part in the talks agreed on the need to get American forces out of the country as quickly as possible and they have set a "realistic timetable" for the withdrawal, Padraig O'Malley told "Helsingin Sanomat."
The following are the political objectives of the "Helsinki Agreement":
1- To be rational in political speeches, for the national interest, and to move away
from sectarian and ethnic dispute.
2- To bring an end to the displacement of Iraqi people and work to take care of those
displaced, and secure their safe return, with guarantees of their safety by the national
forces in co-operation with political parties and tribal leaders.
3- To deal with the subject of militias under the following procedures:
A- Arming, supplying, training and making sure that the security forces (army/police)
are capable of undertaking their duties efficiently. Make sure that the security forces
are equipped to adequate levels to achieve an effective national force.
B- Activation of economic development across the country, to contain youth
unemployment and use the efforts of young people to rebuild in order to improve the
quality of life for all citizens.
C- Those working outside the law and using military resources inappropriately shall
be brought to justice, with no differentiation.
4- The emphasis on the common vision for all Iraqi political entities on the
importance of termination of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq through the
completion of national sovereignty and rebuilding a national army and security
apparatus according to a national vision within a realistic timetable.
5- An emphasis on the continuation of constructive dialogue between different
political groups aiming to fulfill national goals.
6- To convince political groups that are currently outside the political process to
initiate and activate a constructive dialogue to reach common understandings.
7- To deal with armed groups which are not classified as terrorist, encouraging them
to use peaceful political means to address the conflict and to provide their members
with jobs and opportunities within state administrations.
8- Working towards correcting the misunderstanding that accompanied the political
process and encourage all Iraqi political parties to participate in building Iraq in all
aspects.
9- The cessation of the violation of the human rights of Iraqi citizens and their
properties by continuous bombardment and military actions by foreign forces. The
Iraqi government must take responsibility to protect innocent civilians.
In spite of the fact that any agreement between Sunni and Shia leaders in Iraq is great good news, and that there has been some outside coverage of all this since September 3, I have found only two previous Daily Kos diaries concerning these developments:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
http://www.dailykos.com/...
I don't know what Wes Clark thinks about this agreement, but I am pretty sure that he would be pleased to see it gain support because he strongly believes that there is no solution to be had in Iraq without more and better diplomacy and local political leadership.