By Martin Banks - 15th April 2008
Iraq´s prime minister has called on the EU to help forge a "better understanding" of his country.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, prime minister Nuri al-Maliki said improved relations between Iraq and the EU were "not just about deals."
He is in Brussels ostensibly to reach an outline agreement to import Iraqi gas via a planned pipeline across Turkey.
The EU is keen to diversify away from Russia, which provides a quarter of Europe´s gas needs.
Iraq has the world´s third-largest oil reserves with an estimated 115 billion barrels and sits on an estimated 112 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.
But, speaking after a meeting with parliament´s president Hans-Gert Poetting, al-Maliki said he hoped the three-day visit go beyond such agreements and "pave the way for new relations" between his country, the EU and its member states.
"Clearly, Iraq will, in the future, want to tap our potential for oil and gas. The EU may, in turn, wish to make use of this potential and we would welcome now.
"But this visit is not just about deals but about establishing new relations, one based on friendship and cooperation."
He told journalists, "The EU is a great example of cooperation and I look forward to an Iraq based on peace and democracy."
He said his country had "come through a great crisis" against a former dictator and terrorism.
"We have had a fantastic outcome and we now have a unified Iraq."
Poettering said he had expressed "great sympathy" for the plight of Iraqis and stressed that parliament, "within its limitations," would support reconstruction of the country.
He said, "Having spoken to Mr al-Maliki I am impressed by the efforts of both himself and his government to establish a better understanding between the different parts of Iraq.
"We agreed that Europe, after its reconstruction following WW2, might serve as an example in this."
Poettering said that "regardless of the position anyone took before the war," he hoped "very concrete" measures would be found to help rebuild the country.
It was the first time the two men had met and Poettering said he hoped to visit Iraq before the end of his mandate.
Al-Maliki later took part in a debate with parliament´s foreign affairs committee.
Afterwards the committee chairman Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, a Polish MEP, said that the PM had delivered a "consistent and pragmatic" assessment of his country´s problems and added, "In the past, Iraq has divided the EU but I hope that in the future it will unite us."
Tight security surrounded his appearance in parliament, the first time he has visited the assembly.
The centrepiece of his visit to Brussels, which started on Tuesday, is enhanced energy cooperation and he is also due to meet commission president Jose Manuel Barrosso and energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs later today.
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