| NEW YORK — World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Sam Kobia voiced serious concern over the escalating violence in Iraq and the U.S. occupation of the country during a meeting with his United Nations counterpart, Kofi Annan.
Kobia, in his first meeting with UN secretary-general Annan at the UN headquarters in New York on May 17, characterized the situation in Iraq as “critical,” saying US policy was a mistake and was resulting in an “escalation of violence.”
“An exit strategy would begin with the withdrawal of the US from all civilian affairs,” Kobia said after the meeting with Annan.
Kobia, an ordained Methodist minister and the first African to head the Geneva-based WCC, said there was a need in Iraq for “a mechanism for truth and reconciliation, which should include in its mandate the actions of the occupying powers.”
Asked by Ecumenical News International what he saw as the proper role for the international community in Iraq, Kobia said Iraqis themselves, and not an outside force, should determine who is invited to rebuild the nation. He said a greater UN presence within Iraq could provide such a framework.
“That would be far different than the current situation with an occupying force,” said Kobia. “There would be integrity involved in that.”
Iraq overshadowed Kobia’s meeting with Annan as it occurred the same day that Ezzedine Salim, the head of Iraq’s US-appointed Governing Council, was assassinated in Baghdad. Kobia said that he had praised Annan “for his leadership role at a time when multi-lateralism is threatened and under attack.”
The two men discussed a host of other topics that included the AIDS/HIV crisis and the prospects for peace in the Middle East and Africa.
Kobia also thanked Annan for the UN having designated Sept. 21to be marked annually as an International Day of Peace. He also invited the secretary-general to address the ninth WCC assembly, scheduled for Porto Alegre, Brazil, in February 2006.
|
