UN pledges a 'new Iraq' as the carnage continues
By Stephen Castle in Brussels
23 June 2005
Supporters and opponents of the US-led war in Iraq have agreed to rebuild the country as a pluralist democracy at a conference designed to draw a line under deep international divisions over American policy in the Middle East.
Heavy on rhetoric but light on practical results, the meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels brought together representatives from more than 80 countries and organisations, including Iran and Syria, to endorse the Iraqi government's plans to restore order, revive the economy and draft a constitution. The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, said it "marked a watershed for Iraq," and that its people should "take heart from this strong message of support".
However, the violence continued unabated yesterday in Iraq, where three car bombs, which went off almost simultaneously about half a mile apart, killed 18 people and wounded 48 in a mainly Shia district of west Baghdad.
The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, issued a tough message to Damascus, accusing it of destabilising Iraq and arguing: "Syria has a responsibility to the international community and to its neighbours not to allow its territory to be used for the gathering of people who are wreaking havoc and causing harm to innocent Iraqis."
<MORE>
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=648976who says irony is dead?