Source:
Associated Press31 Aug 2007, 2310 hrs IST
HELSINKI: Representatives from feuding Sunni and Shiite groups were meeting behind closed doors on Friday to discuss ways of ending the bloodshed in Iraq, officials said.
Crisis Management Initiative, a conflict-prevention group headed by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, said it was hosting a seminar to examine how lessons learned from peace processes in South Africa and Northern Ireland could be applied to Iraq ...
CMI said it was covening the closed-door meetings in conjunction with the John W McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies of the University of Massachusetts Boston.
The Finnish Foreign Ministry said it was not involved in organizing the meetings ...
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Europe/Feuding_Iraqis_meet_for_secret_peace_seminar_in_Finland/articleshow/2327985.cms
Representatives of Iraq's Shiite, Sunni hold talks in Finland
www.chinaview.cn 2007-09-01 00:32:34
... The CMI said that the Iraqis would not be holding "negotiations," it is an Iraq- seminar. The seminar is aimed at studying the South African and Northern Ireland peace processes to see if there are lessons that can be learned and applied in Iraq.
The representatives from the peace processes in South Africa and Northern Ireland will attend the seminar.
The seminar is a closed-door event. Meeri-Maria Jaarva, the director of operations of the CMI said that for security reasons, the names of the Iraqis and their political positions will not be disclosed. She would not disclose the names of participants, nor the location of the closed-door seminar hosted by the CMI.
In total, some 30 people were taking part in the seminar, which was to last a couple of days.
Editor: Yan Liang
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-09/01/content_6641835.htm