Egypt on Monday welcomed Saudi King Abdullah's offer to host talks among Iraqi leaders in Riyadh next month to put an end to the eight-month-long Iraqi political stalemate.
In a statement to the press on Monday, spokesperson for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Hossam Zaki, praised the initiative, saying it reflects a Saudi interest in achieving Iraqi stability.
Zaki added that while Egypt places a high value on the Saudi initiative, it is also urging Iraqis to accept talks called for by the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani.
Zaki also called on the different Iraqi parties to show flexibility in order to end the current political impasse.
The position taken by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry is similar to that expressed by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. Some observers say the initiative should have been launched by the Arab League itself, however.
Some Arab diplomats described the secretary-general’s stance as ambiguous, saying he neither welcomed the initiative explicitly nor expressed the league’s readiness to sponsor.
They told Al-Masry Al-Youm that King Abdullah briefed Moussa on the invitation during his visit to the Saudi capital last week, while Moussa asked for more time to consider the initiative before endorsing it.
The diplomats added that Moussa–who has made previous attempts to gather Iraqi factions for reconciliation–exhibits caution when it comes to Arab efforts on the Iraqi crisis, declining to show support where success for an initiative is not guaranteed.
Moussa might view endorsement of the initiative as rash without prior consultation with influential Iraqi and Arab players, the diplomats further noted.
The State of Law coalition, led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and the Kurdish bloc, have expressed reservations toward the Saudi move. But a spokesperson for the al-Iraqiya alliance, headed by former premier Iyad Allawi, welcomed it.
A number of Gulf states, as well as the general-secretary of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, have voiced support for the proposal.
