IRAQ:Senior Northern Ireland politicians concluded four days of secret talks with leading Iraqi representatives in Finland yesterday that culminated in the "Helsinki Agreement", which DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson described as a "roadmap" for Iraqi negotiations based on the Northern peace process.
The Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Mr Donaldson, as well as other senior Northern Ireland and South African political figures, held the talks near Helsinki over the past four days with senior Shia and Sunni representatives as well as with those loyal to the radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr.
The talks resulted in the "Helsinki Agreement", a 12-point list of recommendations including a commitment to non-violence which it is hoped will provide the structure to allow meaningful talks between most groups in Iraq. This does not include al-Qaeda, it is understood.
"We feel we have been able to help the Iraqis put together a roadmap for negotiations which we hope will result in political stability in Iraq," Mr Donaldson told The Irish Times from Helsinki.
"It is welcome that progress has been made over the past number of days and the participants have agreed to a series of principles for moving forward peacefully in Iraq," said a Sinn Féin spokesman last night.
The talks participants also agreed nine political objectives aimed at achieving peace in the conflict-torn country. According to an agreed press release from the talks the "agreement" and objectives embrace the "principles of inclusivity, powersharing and a commitment to removing the use of violence as a means of resolving political differences".
While this initiative has been overshadowed by President George Bush's surprise visit to Iraq yesterday, Mr Donaldson said the importance of the talks should not be underestimated.
"We hope that this will prove to be very significant in terms of the agreement that has been reached by the Iraqi representatives. That agreement involves the Mitchell Principles of democracy and non-violence which were central to the Northern Ireland peace process," he added.
Mr Donaldson said the Iraqi participants included those in government and those who were centrally involved in the conflict in the country, including representatives of Moqtada al-Sadr.
Also involved were: Lord Alderdice, former Alliance leader and Assembly speaker, and chairman of the Independent Monitoring Commission; Billy Hutchinson, former Assembly member for the Progressive Unionist Party, which is linked to the UVF; senior Sinn Féin adviser and former IRA prisoner Leo Green; and Quintin Oliver, a public relations consultant who led the Yes referendum campaign for the 1998 Belfast Agreement.
Those from South Africa included the ANC leader Mac Maharaj and former government minister Roelf Meyer.
Mr Donaldson said that it was agreed that the 16 Iraqi participants would not be named at this stage. He said the Iraqis were returning to Baghdad determined to build on the "Helsinki Agreement".
"We hope to be involved in this initiative on a continuing basis," he added.
The talks were hosted by the John W McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at the University of Massachusetts - Boston, with the assistance of the Crisis Management Initiative, which in turn is headed by the former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who was an independent inspector of IRA arms dumps.
The recommendations in the "Helsinki Agreement" include the commitment to non-violence and the prohibition on the use of arms for "all armed groups during the process of negotiations", which were a key element of the Irish political process.
Another recommendation is the establishment of a body to "supervise the process of disarmament of non-governmental armed groups in a verifiable manner", which is modelled on Gen John de Chastelain's decommissioning body.
