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June 26, 2009

G8 Ministers Condemn Actions of Iran, North Korea
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Foreign ministers meeting in Italian port city of Trieste urge Iran to
respect fundamental rights, including freedom of expression 
Members of the the Civil Society organizations from the G8 countries
during a meeting in Rome, 26 June 2009Foreign ministers from the Group
of 8 industrialized nations deplored the post-election violence in Iran.
They called on Tehran to resolve the crisis over the disputed poll
through democratic dialogue. The ministers also condemned North Korea's
missile tests. G8 foreign ministers meeting in the northern Italian port
city of Trieste urged Iran to respect fundamental rights, including
freedom of expression. Deploring the violence which followed the June 12
presidential election, the ministers urged the Iranian government to
guarantee that the will of the Iranian people is reflected in the
electoral process. Italy's foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said the
ministers expressed serious concern about the events of recent weeks.
Frattini said they stressed the need for an immediate end to the
violence and expressed solidarity to the victims. They also urged the
Iranian authorities to find a peaceful solution to the present crisis.
Britain's minister for foreign affairs, David Miliband, said the Iranian
people have a right to choose their government but the Iranian
government must protect its people. He added that the violence, killings
and beatings of the last ten days are deplorable and show a failure to
protect the Iranian people."Today there is a crisis of credibility, not
between Iran and the West but between the Iranian counting of the votes
and the Iranian people," he said. "The idea that the protestors on the
streets of Iran are motivated or mobilized or organized by foreign
powers is completely without foundation."In addition to Iran, ministers
discussed five other issues: non-proliferation, piracy, Africa and its
regional crises, North Korea and the Middle East. On North Korea, they
condemned Pyongyang's missile tests and urged the country to return to
the negotiating table and take part in the six-nation disarmament talks.
On the Middle!
  East, the Italian Foreign Minister Frattini said there was agreement 
by the G8 nations and outlined their solution. Frattini said that two
states and two people as a final solution with the creation of a climate
of faith for negotiations through the freezing of Israeli settlements
and the cessation of violence and thus security for Israel. For the
Palestinians, Frattini added, the need to alleviate the humanitarian
situation in the Gaza strip and West Bank. Ministers from Afghanistan
and Pakistan, as well as other nations and organizations, were to hold
discussions with the G8 ministers on a regional approach to the Afghan
conflict. Delegates were to look at border management and illicit
trafficking. Italy had originally invited Iran to attend the Trieste
meeting as a special guest, arguing that it could play an important role
in talks on Afghan stabilization. But following the violence, it
retracted that invitation. 


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