IRAQ: The time has come for dialogue between the government of Iraq and elements of the insurgent movement, a senior Iraqi parliamentarian said during a visit to Dublin.
"The problem of security cannot be resolved by force alone," said Adnan Pachachi, who was Iraq's foreign minister and ambassador to the United Nations before going into exile when the Baath Party seized power. He is a member of the current Iraqi parliament.
Welcoming peace moves by the new head of government, who has sought to open negotiations with the insurgents, Mr Pachachi said prime minister Nouri al-Maliki had made some "very encouraging" statements. "We feel the time has come to have this kind of dialogue."
Despite "a lot of irregularities" in the voting, Iraq now had a freely elected parliament. "It was elected by the people. We are representative of the Iraqi people and it was not easy for the people to vote," he said at an informal reception hosted by US ambassador James Kenny.
Mr Pachachi said people were being abducted and killed and the public still did not really feel safe. "There is unfortunately a perception among sectors of the population that the security services cannot be completely trusted. Without this trust, it will be impossible for people to feel secure in the country.
"It seems hopeless sometimes, but frankly we have to continue and we have to persevere: there is no other option. The transition to a fully fledged democracy will not be easy, it takes time. Democracy is something that you learn by experience, by practice.
"We have just started out on this rather difficult experiment, but we can't look back,"
Mr Pachachi was visiting Ireland as part of a delegation of Iraqi parliamentarians from various political organisations. The six-day visit, which concluded at the weekend, was sponsored by the International Republican Institute, a Washington-based organisation set up under the Reagan administration.
The group met Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and other members of the Dáil, and spent a day in Belfast meeting the North's political parties and officials from the Northern Ireland Office.
Their programme included a reception hosted by Lord Mayor of Dublin Catherine Byrne, and a visit to Glencree Reconciliation Centre in Co Wicklow for discussions about the resolution of ethnic conflicts.
"We have come here really to gain some knowledge of the experience of Ireland in dealing with problems of sectarian violence," Mr Pachachi said. "Many of the problems are similar to Iraq."