Iraq's prime minister appealed Saturday for international help to sever networks aiding extremists and warned envoys from neighbors and world powers that Iraq's expanding sectarian violence could spill across the Middle East.
"Iraq has become a front-line battlefield," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told delegates at a groundbreaking conference that brought together Islamic nations including Iran and Western representatives led by the United States.
"(Iraq) needs support in this battle that not only threatens Iraq but will spill over to all countries in the region," he added. According to the AP, Al-Maliki urged for help in stopping financial support, weapon pipelines and "religious cover" for the relentless attacks of car bombings, killings and other attacks.
He expressed hope the conference could be a "turning point in supporting the government in facing this huge danger."
Iraq's government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbaghi, said Iranian and U.S. envoys shook hands during a closed-door discussion session.
The meeting brought together Iraq's six neighbors, the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and several Arab representatives.
Al-Maliki said "the terrorism that kills innocents" in Iraq comes from the same root as terrorists attacks around the world since Sept. 11, 2001. He also delivered an apparent warning to neighbors Syria and Iran to stay away from using Iraq as a proxy battleground for fights against the United States.
"Iraq does not accept that its territories and cities become a field where regional and international disputes are settled," he said.
"We wish to have our neighbours' support for confronting terrorism," said Maliki. "The terrorism that today is trying to kill Iraqis in Baghdad, Hilla, Mosul and Anbar is the same as the terror that intimidated the population of Saudi Arabia, targeted the people of Egypt, attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and hit underground trains in Madrid and London.
"This is an international epidemic, the price of which is being paid by the people of Iraq, and our country is on the front line of confrontation.
"Confronting terrorism means halting any form of financial support and media or religious incitement, as well as logistical support and the provision of arms and men that will become explosive tools killing our children, women and elders, and bombing our mosques and churches," Maliki said.
