Arab Countries Ready to Recognize Provisional Administration of Iraq Under Specific Conditions

The Arab countries have formed a common stance with respect to the provisional government of Iraq, the Saudi paper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat wrote on Tuesday.

The Arab countries, it reports, are ready to recognize the provisional administration of Iraq if all the main political forces and movements, all ethnic groups and religious confessions are included in the transitional government. The second condition, on which the Arab governments insist, is the formation of the administration's format by Iraqis themselves without the US and British interference. The Arab countries also believe that the term of powers for the new Iraqi administration, whose main objective will be preparation for the general elections, should be determined beforehand.

The paper points out that the Arab states renounced its former request - to form the government of Iraq only after the end of the foreign occupation.

It also says that the US administration has been informed of this common stance of the Arab countries, which was worked out during intensive consultations.