The United Nations (UN) Security Council should address the concerns of Arabic countries when discussing the Iraqi issue, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told senior Arab officials Tuesday.  

Li made the remarks during phone talks with Habib Ben Yahia, foreign minister of Tunisia, the current president of the Arab League (AL), and Amr Mahmoud Moussa, AL secretary-general.

Both sides agreed that the military occupation of Iraq should end as soon as possible, Iraq should become sovereign again, and a new highly representative Iraqi government should be established soon through fair and democratic elections.

They also agreed the United Nations should play an important role.

The UN Security Council should heed and respect the opinions of Arabic countries during its discussion, Li said.

At a regular news conference Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said China has put forth a proposal to the UN Security Council on the Iraqi issue, elaborating on China's goals and principles.

Liu said the proposal aims to:

l         improve the security situation in Iraq, resume peace and stability and help the Iraqi people in reconstruction and development;

l         maintain Iraq's political independence and territorial integrity and establish a new Iraq featuring democracy, openness and ethnic;

l         help Iraq re-enter the international community and keep peace and stability in the Gulf region;

l         create conditions for the international community to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq with the UN playing an important role.

As for the principles on the Iraqi issue, Liu said they are:

l         to respect the Iraqi people's will, choice and rights for the future of their country and to make the Iraqi people govern Iraq;

l         to settle the Iraqi issue within the framework of the UN and support the efforts made by the UN secretary-general and its representatives;

l         to hear voices from Iraq when it comes to the Security Council's related resolutions;

l         to respect all nations' legitimate rights in Iraq and address reasonable concerns of Iraq's neighboring countries and Arabic countries;

l         to respect, safeguard and promote human rights in Iraq.

(China Daily May 26, 2004)