The Iraq’s government spokesperson, Basem Al-Awadi
Media Monitor
Iraq government spox says summit was about ‘reclaiming dignity’
BAGHDAD — In a televised interview with Alforat TV, Iraqi government spokesperson Basem Al-Awadi said Iraq is not seeking to reclaim a historic leadership role in the Arab world through ideological campaigns or regional entanglements, but rather aims to restore national dignity and assert its strength on the regional stage.
The comments came after the conclusion of the 34th Arab League Summit in Baghdad on Saturday. Despite months of preparation and high-level diplomatic outreach, most member states were represented by foreign ministers rather than heads of state. Among Gulf nations, only the Emir of Qatar attended in person, while Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman sent ministerial delegations.
Addressing questions about Iraq’s financial support to Arab countries—including wheat shipments, monetary contributions, and the costs associated with hosting the summit—Al-Awadi said, “We wanted to reclaim our dignity through this summit, and to reclaim our manhood. We want to say that we are strong, that we are lions and we do not fear, we are not poor, and we have money.”
In a separate interview with Al Iraqiya TV, Al-Awadi described the summit as a valuable learning experience for Iraq’s foreign policy apparatus. “Political experiences are lessons… all of these are lessons from which countries can benefit,” he said, adding that the summit’s outcomes will be “studied appropriately and thoroughly” by the government and diplomatic corps.
“We will build upon it extensively in dealing with most Arab countries,” Al-Awadi said.
Excerpts from Al-Awadi’s interviews:
Some Arab institutions were asking and inquiring with Iraq’s ambassadors about everything that had taken place over the past few days, including protests, demonstrations, and similar matters being circulated on Iraqi social media.
The Baghdad Summit was successful, and all Arab countries were officially represented, except for Libya, whose president apologized due to the current events there, which caused the closure of the country’s airport.
The gains of the Baghdad Summit are political. We wanted to reclaim our dignity through this summit, and to reclaim our manhood. We want to say that we are strong, that we are lions and we do not fear, we are not poor, and we have money. We have security and an army capable of securing the presence of 40 Arab leaders. Whoever messes with us, we mess with them.
The gains of the summit are that we say to others: respect us, we are strong. We are Iraq; we give honor, we are not honored by others. And if some fear that we may reclaim our Arab leadership, we say we are not thinking about that. The Arab memory retains the image that when Iraq regains its strength, it becomes like an octopus, because they remember the bad past of Iraqi power, the slogans, and describing Gulf countries as reactionary, etc. But we say we are not thinking about leadership—we are thinking about the economy, cooperation, development, and integration.
Whoever doesn’t contribute money has no value in politics. We want to purchase our strength and influence, to send a message to even someone 2,000 kilometers away that we will reach them with harm if they think about sending a terrorist to Iraq. Today, influence is based on nuclear and missile power, but God has given us wealth, and we must use it for impact and influence.
Political experiences are lessons, and surely, in terms of Arab participation level and engagement with Iraq—before, during, and after the Arab League Summit—all of these are lessons from which countries can benefit. Based on that, we will determine how we can politically engage with others and with whom we interact politically.
Certainly, our relations and foreign policy will benefit from the experience of the summit, which will be studied by us in the Iraqi government and within Iraqi diplomatic circles. It will be studied appropriately and thoroughly. We have been discussing this in private meetings based on developments over the past 24 hours.
We will remain open to our Arab brothers in a proper manner, but I say and emphasize that this summit is an important lesson from which Iraqi foreign policy and diplomacy will benefit, and we will build upon it extensively in dealing with most Arab countries.
