Undersecretary for Political Planning Meets Head of the ICRC Delegation in Iraq

Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry for Political Planning Affairs, Ambassador Dr. Hisham Al Alawi, received in his office the Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Delegation in Baghdad, Mr. Ikhtiyar Aslanov.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Undersecretary expressed his appreciation for the strong relations between the Government of Iraq and the ICRC Delegation, commending the noticeable progress in joint coordination mechanisms over the past period—particularly through the work of joint committees between the ICRC and relevant Iraqi entities.

The Undersecretary commended the success of the Regional Conference on Missing Persons, which was organized in Baghdad in cooperation with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry, and with the participation of relevant Iraqi institutions, as well as high-level delegations from several regional and Arab countries, and representatives of numerous international and regional missions operating in Iraq. He emphasized that the conference marks an important step that serves the interests of our people and the peoples of the region affected by this humanitarian issue.

On his part, Mr. Aslanov praised the success of the regional conference and stressed the importance of continued cooperation between the ICRC Delegation and the Government of Iraq—especially in the context of the delegation’s participation in the high-level joint committees addressing the issue of missing persons resulting from previous wars between the former Iraqi regime and both the Islamic Republic of Iran and the State of Kuwait. He also commended the productive collaboration with Iraqi entities in the of remains of missing persons from all sides.

The two sides also discussed the importance of unifying and verifying information sources and reaffirmed the need to involve all relevant Iraqi and regional agencies to intensify efforts.