Seated side by side due to the alphabetization of the assigned seats at the United Nations, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom shook hands and chatted on Tuesday, at the UN General Assembly.
The Hizbullah terror organization was outraged by the incident, releasing scathing attacks on the new Iraqi prime minister, accusing him of disgracing Iraq and offending all Arabs and Muslims.
"[It] is a sign of one of the most dangerous goals of the American war on Iraq, yanking Iraq from its place in the Arab and Muslim worlds and sticking it in the U.S.-Zionist political cosmos," said the Hizbullah statement, according to Reuters. "This unacceptable handshake is at once a true insult to the Iraqi people, their history, culture and Islamic and national commitment; and flagrant scorn for the suffering of Palestinian people and the sentiments of Arabs and Muslims."
FM Shalom said the chance meeting, in which the two officials shook hands and engaged in small talk, was the first official contact between Israel and Baghdad since the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Shalom said that he told Allawi that he hopes for peace throughout the Middle East.
Asked about Iraq by reporters before the General Assembly meeting, Shalom said: 'We would like not to be the only democracy in the Middle East. We would love that Iraq will join us, and after that the rest of the countries in the Middle East. It would bring more stability to the region and more stability to the entire world."
In July Allawi said Iraq would not make any moves to normalize relations with Israel before the other Arab nations do so as part of a comprehensive Middle East peace treaty.
The Hizbullah terror organization was outraged by the incident, releasing scathing attacks on the new Iraqi prime minister, accusing him of disgracing Iraq and offending all Arabs and Muslims.
"[It] is a sign of one of the most dangerous goals of the American war on Iraq, yanking Iraq from its place in the Arab and Muslim worlds and sticking it in the U.S.-Zionist political cosmos," said the Hizbullah statement, according to Reuters. "This unacceptable handshake is at once a true insult to the Iraqi people, their history, culture and Islamic and national commitment; and flagrant scorn for the suffering of Palestinian people and the sentiments of Arabs and Muslims."
FM Shalom said the chance meeting, in which the two officials shook hands and engaged in small talk, was the first official contact between Israel and Baghdad since the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Shalom said that he told Allawi that he hopes for peace throughout the Middle East.
Asked about Iraq by reporters before the General Assembly meeting, Shalom said: 'We would like not to be the only democracy in the Middle East. We would love that Iraq will join us, and after that the rest of the countries in the Middle East. It would bring more stability to the region and more stability to the entire world."
In July Allawi said Iraq would not make any moves to normalize relations with Israel before the other Arab nations do so as part of a comprehensive Middle East peace treaty.