Tuesday's international conference on the political future of Iraq represents the world's determination to press ahead with the political process, in the hope it will eventually resolve the security crisis in the war-torn country. 

The two-day gathering at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh called for an end to the insurgency or any interference that destabilizes the country, as well as a renewed effort to rebuild Iraq and forget its debts.

The fact that countries with often sharp differences over Iraq had managed to sit around one table and hammer out a rough global consensus is heartening. Relentless violence in Iraq poses a serious challenge to the country and the world as a whole.

The message is clear that a just and transparent election with Iraqis having a say on their own fate is the way out of the current chaos.

The international community, especially the United Nations, has an important role in helping Iraq carry out its elections.

To facilitate the political process, the concerns of Iraq's neighbors and Arab countries should also be taken into consideration.

What matters most to the reconstruction process is restoring stability and bringing a speedy end to the violence-plagued occupation.

But there was no firm agreement on whether the election, scheduled for January, could proceed, nor any sense that all Iraq's neighbors are convinced that the US military needs to remain there until the insurgency ends.

The interim Iraqi government and the world will have to engage in a real and hard-headed dialogue to assess the situation.

Although the Iraqi foreign minister sought to dispel doubts that the insurgency would discourage Sunnis in the most unstable central part of the country from participating in the January election, it remains possible that violence may derail voting in some towns in the troubled Sunni regions.

With several states supporting a proposal by Bahrain to host a conference of all Iraq's political forces before the election, widening the participation in the political process may offer a means of tamping the insurgency.

But five months since the transfer of power to the interim Iraqi government, whether the fledging caretaker government has won hearts, minds and security control is still far from certain.

What the Iraqi people may stand to gain from this meeting will in no way alter the rocky road they were forced to take.

Without a secure environment in which its new leadership can be elected and operate, Iraq will not be able to breathe on its own.

(China Daily November 25, 2004)