BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq said on Sunday it has no evidence that Iran was supplying militias engaged in fierce street fighting with security forces in Baghdad.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said there was no "hard evidence" of involvement by the neighbouring Shiite government of Iran in backing Shiite militiamen in the embattled country.
Asked about reports that weapons captured from Shiite fighters bore 2008 markings suggesting Iranian involvement, Dabbagh said: "We don't have that kind of evidence... If there is hard evidence we will defend the country."
Dabbagh said an Iraqi parliamentary delegation which visited Iran last week had useful discussions with authorities there and secured assurances of support and understanding of the crisis....
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq on Sunday appeared to distance itself from U.S. accusations of Iranian meddling in Iraqi affairs, saying it would not be pushed into conflict with its neighbor and wanted its own inquiry into the evidence.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had ordered the formation of a special committee comprised of representatives of the various security ministries "to document any intervention in Iraqi affairs."
"The reason behind forming this committee is to find tangible information and not information based on speculation," Dabbagh told a news conference in Baghdad.
The Iraqis have repeatedly said they do not want their territory to become a battleground for a proxy war between the United States and Iran. The arch-foes are at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear ambitions.......
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