BAGHDAD — After decades of conflict, Iraq will pitch
itself as a regional mediator as it hosts a leaders' summit this week — despite
foreign influence on its territory and a grinding financial crisis.
اضافة اعلان
The meeting in Baghdad on Saturday seeks to give Iraq a
"unifying role" to tackle the crises shaking the region, according to
sources close to Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Jordan's King
Abdullah II have said they plan to attend, as has French President Emmanuel
Macron, the only official expected from outside the region.
Leaders from Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have also been
invited.
Kadhimi came to power in May last year after months of
unprecedented mass protests against a ruling class seen as corrupt, inept and
subordinate to Tehran.
The new premier had served as the head of Iraq's National
Intelligence Service for nearly four years, forming close ties to Tehran,
Washington, and Riyadh.
His appointment prompted speculation he could serve as a
rare mediator among the capitals.
"In the past, under Saddam Hussein, Iraq was a state
that was feared and despised in the region and everyone saw it as a
threat," said Iraqi political expert Marsin Alshamary.
After the 2003 US-led invasion, it became "a weak state",
prone to external influences and meddling.
But Saturday's summit, she said, could be "a positive
thing for Iraq".
'Not just a playground'
Renad Mansour of Chatham House said the aim was to transform
Iraq from "a country of messengers to a country that is leading
negotiations".
Organizers have been tight-lipped on the meeting's agenda.
But Baghdad has already hosted closed-door encounters in
recent months between Tehran and US ally Riyadh.
The powerful regional arch-rivals had broken off ties in
2016.
If confirmed, the presence of Iranian and Saudi officials
this weekend would be notable in itself.
Iraq, for its part, has been caught for years in a delicate
balancing act between its two main allies Iran and the United States.
"The ambition is for Iraq to not just be a playground
but actually have a role potentially as a mediating force," Mansour said.
Iran exerts major clout in Iraq through allied armed groups
within the Hashed Al-Shaabi, a powerful state-sponsored paramilitary network.
Since the 2019 anti-government protests, dozens of activists
have been killed or abducted.
Some say the killers are known to the security services and
despite government promises of arrests, remain at large — due to their ties to
Iran.
Shiite factions operating under the Hashed are also accused
of dozens of attacks this year against US interests in Iraq.
Kadhimi is under pressure from pro-Tehran armed factions,
who demand the withdrawal of 2,500 US troops still deployed in Iraq.
'Take back control'
Turkey is another regional power with an outsized presence
in Iraq.
Ankara regularly targets Iraq's northwest in operations
against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist
organization.
The Kurdish separatists, who have waged a decades-long insurgency
against Ankara, have bases in the rugged mountains on the Iraqi side of the
border.
The Turkish operations, have sometimes killed civilians and
have irked Baghdad, but it remains reluctant to alienate a vital trading
partner.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been invited to
Saturday's conference, though his attendance has not yet been confirmed.
By convening the summit, Kadhimi is also taking a gamble on
the domestic front, less than two months before general elections.
Though he is not facing reelection himself, he will have
much at stake.
"There will be another coalition government and the
different parties will have to settle on a compromise prime minister,"
Alshamary said.
Iraq, long plagued by endemic corruption, poor services,
dilapidated infrastructure and unemployment, is facing a deep financial crisis
compounded by lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Iraqis are struggling," said Mansour, adding that
many were facing "the brunt of corruption".
"It has been the summer of hospital fires and lack of
electricity, drought ... and more generally a political system that neither
responds to the needs of Iraqis nor represents Iraqis," Mansour said.
But Saturday's conference is mainly about the country's
standing in the region.
"Iraq wants to take back control of its
trajectory," said one foreign observer on condition of anonymity.
"Above all, it no longer wants to be subjected to the
effects of regional tensions on its territory."
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