Iraq won’t be springboard to attack neighbors – official

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi official reiterated his country’s keenness not to be used as a springboard for aggression on any of its neighbors, or as a source of threat to their security. “We’re on the way of deepening our relations with our neighbors based on our belief that the security and stability of Iraq is firmly linked to the security and stability of our neighbors and region,” the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted Labid Abawi, Iraqi Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, as saying. “We’re keen on our neighbors’ security in as much we are on own our,” said Abawi, who is also the head of Iraq’s delegation to the meeting of Security Cooperation and Coordination Committee of Iraq’s Neighboring Countries. He expressed appreciation of Syria’s efforts in hosting the Iraqi refugees in a spirit of fraternity and good neighborliness as well as the firm relations binding the people of the two countries. Abawi pointed to the steps taken by the Iraqi government in the political and security fields, stressing importance of “what had been achieved in terms of security improvement thanks to the cooperation with the neighboring countries”. The Iraqi official wished that the meeting would come up with success in adopting recommendations that help boost the security and stability of Iraq in particular and the region in general. MH (S)/AmR 1