URGENT: Iraq recalls its Ambassador from Jordan

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) On Friday Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled Iraq’s ambassador from Amman, Jordan for an urgent “consultation” in response to Jordan permitting Iraqi sunni opposition groups to convene a conference in Amman and declare a jihadist-led insurgency sweeping parts of Iraq as a “popular revolt.”

Iraqi Sunni leaders in exile on Wednesday downplayed a Sunni Islamist uprising led by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants, portraying the violence as a fightback against an oppressive Shiite-led government.

ISIS fighters spearheaded an offensive that began in the Iraqi city of Mosul on June 9, and has since swept large parts of the country’s northern and western provinces.

Around 300 Sunni clerics, tribal leaders, insurgent commanders and businessmen attended the meeting, where the Islamic State’s role in the onslaught was downplayed and calls made to endorse “legitimate revolt” against the government.

Iraq’s Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has decried what he describes as foreign meddling in his country, and has accused countries in the region of arming and funding militants.

Despite the Iraqi government’s strong objections, on Wednesday (July 16, 2014) the government of Jordan invited the so-called “Iraqi national forces and tribes that were not involved in the political process in Iraq” to attend a conference in Amman, Jordan.

The members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives criticized Jordanian authorities for allowing these groups to attend a conference in Amman considering their role in undermining the political process in Iraq.

The Ministry said, in a brief statement posted on its website and received by IraqiNews.com, that “Iraq has decided to recall its ambassador from Amman, Jordan for an urgent consultation.”