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 Western and Middle Eastern countries in the coalition are meeting
this week in Paris. Part of their agenda is to persuade the Iraqi
government to repair its relationship with Iraq's Sunni minority.
The meeting follows the Iraqi government's biggest military setback
in nearly a year. On May 17, Islamic State seized Ramadi from the
weakened Iraqi army. The capital of the overwhelmingly Sunni Anbar
province is just 90 km (55 miles) west of Baghdad.
Since then, government troops and Shi'ite militias have been
building up positions around the city. Many of Iraq's minority
Sunnis dislike hardline Sunni Islamic State but also fear the
Shi'ite militias after years of bloody sectarian strife.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a moderate Shi'ite, can only
persuade Sunni tribes to fight Islamic State if he demonstrates that
he can control the powerful Shi'ite militias whose military muscle
he now depends on.
He said he was confident that the appeal to the Sunni tribes was "on
track" and rejected suggestions that Iraq was not doing enough
politically.
 "To be honest, we need a lot of political work on the part of the
coalition countries. We need an explanation why there are so many
terrorists from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, Egypt ... European
countries. If it is due to the political situation in Iraq, why are
Americans, French and German (fighters) in Iraq?" he said.
KURDS SAY SNUBBED
In a sign of persistent factional divisions, Iraq's northern
Kurdistan region criticized Baghdad for "excluding" it from the
Paris meeting, and said the snub was demeaning to the sacrifices of
its peshmerga forces fighting Islamic State insurgents.
The autonomous region's department of foreign relations said Kurdish
officials had failed to persuade Baghdad to invite them as part of
the national delegation, despite calls from other coalition members.
"Unfortunately, the Iraqi government refused our request," a
statement from the department said. "It is known, both internally
and internationally, that the most effective force fighting ISIL
(Islamic State) terrorists on the ground and in a direct manner are
the peshmerga."
Abadi said his forces were making progress against Islamic State but
needed more support from the international community.
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"It is failure on the part of the world," Abadi told reporters
before the meeting, which ministers from about 20 countries,
including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, will attend.
"The problem is not exclusively in Iraq. We are trying to do our
part, but Daesh was not created in Iraq," he said, referring to
Islamic State by its mildly derogatory Arabic acronym.
Abadi said Iraq urgently needed more intelligence and weapons,
including anti-tank guns. He said Baghdad had received very few arms
or ammunition despite coalition pledges to provide more weapons.
"Almost none. We are relying on ourselves," he said, noting that he
was waiting for U.N. approval to buy weapons from Iran.
"The air campaign is useful for us, but it's not enough. It's too
little. Surveillance is very small. Daesh is mobile and moves in
small groups," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend the meeting remotely
after breaking his leg on Sunday, a senior State Department official
told reporters.
"This is not a business-as-usual meeting," the official said. "We’re
coming in the wake of the events in Ramadi. We’re coming to discuss
with Prime Minister Abadi his plan ... for liberating Ramadi and
Anbar province."
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Isabel
Coles in Erbil; Editing by Katharine Houreld)
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