The Iraq Conference in retrospect

For a couple of days Sweden was in world focus as host of the international ICI Conference on Iraq on 29 May 2008. More than 100 delegations came to Stockholm - 600 people and more than 360 accredited journalists.

Among those working at high pressure was Sweden's Ambassador to Iraq, Niclas Trouvé, and his colleagues.

A few weeks have now passed since the conference. The Iraqis will have some following up to do, as they declared during the conference that the next meeting will be held in Baghdad.
"It takes time to build up a country that has been laid in ruins. There are a lot of parallel issues that must be dealt with simultaneously. Iraq is not in need of our money but of our support and know-how, and reintegration into the international community," says Niclas Trouvé.

Much of the conference concerned progress that has been made to date. The Iraqis gave an impression of hope and optimism for the future. At the same time, it was clear that much remains to be done.

How do you regard the outcome of the Iraq conference?

"For Iraq, the conference was a clear expression of the international community's support for the reform process that has been started and for the new Iraq. Iraq's new leadership made it clear during the conference that it is they themselves who are in charge and that they want to lead the reform process in their country. During my latest visit to Baghdad, the Iraqis confirmed that the conference was something of a turning point for the country's relations with the rest of the world. They felt that the global community had taken them seriously and that they felt that they had now "come in from the cold".

"The conference was also a great success for Sweden and our Iraq policy was in focus. It was also important to show the large group of people in Sweden with an Iraqi background that we support Iraq's development.

"It emerged clearly in talks I had recently in Baghdad that the parties - both Iraq and the UN - were highly satisfied with both the outcome of the conference and Sweden's role as host. At one meeting the chairman of the Iraqi foreign relations committee, Sheikh Hamoudi, expressed his and other parliamentarians' great thanks to Sweden.

How do you regard developments in Iraq - in the short and the long term?

"Getting Iraq on its feet will take time. And it must be allowed to take time. In a short-term perspective it is important that the security situation continues to be improved. In the long term, there are several things that are needed, such as national consensus, reconciliation and better representativeness. What this involves is quite simply confidence-building. But development in the region is also important. Iraq and its neighbours must develop their cooperation to increase stability and security.

"Yet another important factor is the next US administration's choice of Iraq policy."

What happens now? How will the Iraqis proceed with the outcome of the conference?

"The conference in Stockholm was important as it required the Iraqis to live up to the objectives set in the reform work and the ongoing process. And these are objectives they themselves have set. What the Iraqis have to work on now is the continued political process with regional elections in the autumn, issues of reconciliation and dialogue, democracy and human rights, fair distribution of oil resources and, not least, social rights.

"Ultimately it is the Iraqis' own responsibility for and ownership of the reform process that must have a clear impact on all ministries and provinces and then trickle down to society as a whole. In this work, it is important that the international community gives the Iraqis its full support."

How will Sweden's embassy in Baghdad monitor the conference follow-up?

"For Sweden and the embassy, the bilateral visit the day after the conference was as important as the conference itself. By reopening our embassy in Baghdad we can see developments in the country more easily at first hand. We will follow issues more closely and work on democracy and human rights, repatriation issues, establishment of Swedish companies in Iraq and so on.

"We are also looking forward to being on the spot in Baghdad during the coming Swedish EU Presidency in 2009. Sweden wants to see a greater role for both the EU and the UN in Baghdad and our reopening may lead to more countries reconsidering."

In a year, at next year's Iraq Conference, the concrete progress that Iraq has made in the various areas will be apparent.