Iraq Defends Abstention from Syria Suspension Vote

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Monday defended his country's abstention from a vote on suspending Syria from the Arab League, emphasizing that events in Syria have a direct impact on Iraq.

The Arab League voted on Saturday to suspend Syria, which has been trying to crush a popular uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime since March.

Iraq abstained, while Yemen, Lebanon and Syria voted against the measure.

"Iraq's stance was not easy," Zebari told a news conference on Monday.

"Syria is a brother country. It is an important country in the area, and we have special relations with it, as it hosted hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in difficult circumstances," he said, referring to Iraqi refugees who fled to Syria to escape violence at home.

"Iraq's situation is not like the situation of a country in North Africa or the Gulf. This is a direct neighbor, and what is happening there will affect us," Zebari said.

Zebari said Iraq's position is that measures against Syria must be taken gradually, rather than all at once.

"We must take them gradually, because the goal is to make the Syrian government understand that national dialogue will serve its interest and the interest of its people," he said.

More than 3,500 people dead have been killed in Syria since March, according to U.N. figures.