Iraq criticised fellow Arabs for not expressing support for its US backed government at an Arab summit that concluded in the Syrian capital on Sunday. The final declaration of the summit urged national reconciliation in Iraq and an end to fighting between Shiite militiamen and US-backed Iraqi forces in Iraq's southern city of Basra. But the declaration did not condemn insurgent attacks, which Iraq regards as terrorism, or mention the elected government in Baghdad. Iraq registered its reservations at the end of the summit over articles in the declaration pertaining to Iraq. Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters that Iraq considered the paragraph concerning Iraq “not positive” and asked the Arab league to rephrase it. “We want the declaration to support the authority of the Iraqi state, the rule of law and our efforts to achieve security, stability and defeat terrorism,” Zebari said. “We are looking for the Arab League to affirm positions it had already taken on supporting the Iraqi government, and not to take a neutral position in the declaration,” Zebari said. Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mehdi led his country's delegation at the summit after Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki became embroiled in a military campaign against fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr in the oil city of Basra. Iraq refused to endorse the final declaration of the Arab summit Sunday because it does not condemn terrorism in the war-torn country, a last-minute dispute at a gathering marred by Arab divisions. Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad acknowledged that the two-day summit's closed-door talks saw arguments over the wide range of disputes between Arab countries - which include Lebanon, Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinan peace process. The leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan boycotted the summit over concerns of Syria blocking the election of a new president in Lebanon. The Iraqi objections came at the summit's final session, when Arab League chief Amr Moussa read out the “Damascus Declaration,” a final joint statement, for the delegations to approve. “I express reservations on the text because this is not what we have agreed upon (in closed door meetings),” Shiite Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi said. “It does not include the efforts of the Iraqi movernment for national reconciliation and it does not condemn terrorism and violence.” Assad recorded the reservations and the remaining delegations approved the declaration. But the Iraqi delegation afterward pressed the league to change the text or they would declare a boycott of the summit, an Arab diplomat told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were closed-door. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem later told reporters that the declaration was not changed. Iraqi officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Iraq's Shiite and Kurd-led government has long accused Sunni-led Arab governments of not taking a strong enough stance against Sunni Arab fighters who made up the backbone of Iraq's insurgency. __
