Representatives of 121 Iraqi political parties and cultural and professional associations and institutes took part in the national unity congress, chaired by Abdullah al-Jabouri, the former governor of Diyala Province. Delegates from Iraqs 18 provinces also took part in the gathering
The declaration, a giant English translation of which was lifted on a 5-metre-high alter, had been circulated in Iraq since February.
According to the organisers of the event some 700,000 women, 14,000 lawyers and jurists, 19,000 doctors, 35,000 engineers, 320 clerics, 540 university professors, 2,000 tribe sheikhs and trusted local dignitaries and nearly 300 local officials are among those who signed the declaration.
A televised message by the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, was aired near the end of the program. Rajavi, who addressed the congress in Arabic, described the Iraqi statement as a victorious strategy in defence of democracy and against dictatorship and insecurity fomented by Tehran’s rulers.
Several dozen parliamentarians and European personalities sent messages of support to the gathering. They included the First Vice-President of the European Parliament Alejo Vidal Quadras, former judge of the European Court of Justice Lord Slynn of Hadley, and former British Home Secretary Lord Waddington.
