An interview with Iraqi ambassador to Bulgaria Haidar Al-Barrak.
The interview took place on August 2 2006

Next year, Arab products and services will be exhibited in Bulgaria as part of a project to bring Arab investment here. Can you tell us more?
The idea came from the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce after representatives of the diplomatic missions of Arab countries visited certain regions of Bulgaria - Veliko Turnovo, Gabrovo, Plovdiv and others, and we heard complaints about there not being enough investment from Arab countries. So preparations for an Arabic week forum in Plovdiv are now undergoing. The schedule is ambitious - we will have key businesses coming to invest in different areas - construction, food, everything.

On May 12, a statement came from Arab leaders in Bulgaria that Bulgaria could become a bridge between the EU and the Arab world.
Bulgaria is only one country away from the Middle East - Turkey - and it has excellent political, economical and cultural relations with Arab countries. Thousands of Arab students study in Bulgaria. Bulgarian culture, moreover, has many Eastern peculiarities that come down from the Turkish rule. We share this common history of the Turkish Empire. There are, for example, more than 100 Bulgarian words of Arab origin.

Is Bulgaria doing enough to boost its contacts with Arab countries?
We used to have excellent relations with Bulgaria in the 1970s and 1980s, but something changed since then and it could be said that it affected our relations somewhat badly. After the changes in 1989, Bulgaria's political image was unclear until almost 2000, when the European Union became Bulgaria's priority. We understand this, and we understand that EU accession requirements are very strict. Still, Arab countries consider your future EU membership as positive because we think that, so to say, for the sake of good old times, Bulgaria could become a bridge between the EU, the whole of the Balkans and the Arab world.

Let's switch to the war in the Middle East. Would you say that Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, which is Shi'ite, could cause a radicalisation of Shi'ite Muslims in Iraq and destabilise the country?
This is a war between Lebanon and Israel, not between Hezbollah and Israel. You have to differentiate between the two cases. Nevertheless, Iraq will always stand on the side of Lebanon no matter what pressure is put on us. We volunteered to give $130 million for the reconstruction of Lebanon. When it comes to standing up to our brothers against Israel, we don't hesitate.[…] And let me tell you something else. The war in the Middle East is not a war between Israel and Lebanon: it is a war between America and Israel on the one side, and Syria and Iran on the other. And those in the middle pay the price. It is a war in which America is cleaning its businesses with countries like Syria. This is not my saying, but that of other countries in the Arab world. Some even say that the Israeli kill on American orders; although I, personally, do not believe that.

An Iraqi journalist living in Bulgaria, Mohamed Halaf, said that many countries in the region silently agree with the war Israel is waging.
This guy is trying to confuse the newspapers. We are not supporting Israel. We may not agree with the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, but we still think that the Israeli response was inordinate. It is like I strike you with a fist, and you respond with artillery. [...] Israel is like this cancer, this strange entity imposed on Palestine in 1948. The Israelites built their state on the basis of hating the Arabs. They raise their children to kill Arabs, torture Arabs and take their lands. They built their country with the sanction of the international community, the UN, the US, and they armed themselves with every pistol they got. Now they are not afraid of anything and they want Palestine to be 100 per cent theirs. When I speak with Palestinians, I see that they suffer. They have no nationality, no place to go, no homeland. The problem with Israel is that they say that they want peace, but they don't. When it comes to making compromises, they don't agree on any peaceful initiative, they don't agree to the Oslo agreement either.

How content are you with the way media cover Iraq?
Mass media in Iraq, but not all media, leads audiences to the conclusion that Iraq equals terrorism and chaos. I am not attempting to beautify the image of Iraq here. Yes, we do have problems, but we, the Iraqi people, are known for our strong will, and I believe that we will prevail against the attempts of those who want to destabilise Iraq. Here I mean people from surrounding countries that I don't want to name. We have had talks with them for the past three years and they are not giving it up. It is full of dictatorship regimes around Iraq who try to put a stick in the wheel of Iraqi development by supporting and arming insurgents.

Recently, Francis Fukuyama wrote an article criticising American neo-conservatism that, among all else, said that Iraq had turned into a training ground for terrorists and jihadists.
I do not want to criticise the international community, but three years ago only America and some other countries stood behind Iraq while many in the international community disagreed with the war that toppled Saddam's regime. These situation we have in Iraq now is a result of the meeting between the interests of Saddam's orphans and al-Qaeda. I disagree with Fukuyama because al-Qaeda has planted its network not only in Iraq, but all over the Middle East - Canaan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt - it is everywhere. It even hit the UK and Spain last year. Moreover, let's not forget that Iraq fights in the front line of the war on terror, and for Iraq this is also a war on two fronts - world terrorism and terrorism in Iraq. But the terrorist activity we see in Iraq doesn't come from the Iraqi people - about 75 per cent of Iraqis voted for the current government and they accept the multinational forces as multinational forces, not as an occupying power. Iraqi terrorism is imported. Every day, we capture hundreds of terrorists, aged 18-30, who come from different nationalities.

The possibility for a civil war in Iraq is still looming in the air.
Iraq will not see a civil war. I am sure because I know the Iraqi community. Iraq is not Lebanon, which, from its independence in 1943, was divided between Christians and Muslims, and the Muslims were themselves divided between Sunni and Shi'ite. We never had any of that.

One of the problems before Iraq now is the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) and the danger that Turkey might engage in cross-border operations in trying to deal with it. How serious a concern is that for Iraq?
The problem of the PKK is eternal. I have been hearing about the PKK since I was a child. But it is an internal Turkish affair so we would like to treat it as such and not interfere. Of course, we would not allow Turkey to cross our border, but this is not to say that we would conduct a war with Turkey if it does.