Saturday, March 10, 2007

Iraq hosts/opens key security meeting

BBC

Iraq's prime minister has urged states attending an international conference in Baghdad to adopt a firm stance against terrorism in his country.

He said "sources of support" for the violence in Iraq had to be halted, but did not accuse any particular state.

It is the first time in years that US officials are attending formal talks involving envoys from Iran and Syria.

Soon after the talks started, at least two blasts were reported near the venue but there is no word on casualties yet.

The US accuses both Iran and Syria of backing Iraq's insurgency which has left tens of thousands dead since 2003.

Until recently, it had ruled out involving them in discussions about the insurgency.

Observers say the ambassador-level gathering is seen as an attempt to break the ice, and the beginning of a process. It is hoped the next step will be a meeting of foreign ministers in April.

Those attending the one-day conference include envoys from other members of the UN Security Council, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as other states bordering Iraq.

'Frontline of confrontation'

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says that for Iraq the meeting is an important opportunity to bring together neighbours and other powers who have often seemed to be using the country as a proxy battlefield for their own struggles.

A key focus will be reducing violence stemming from Iraq's Sunni-Shia divide.

"We wish to have our neighbours' support for confronting terrorism," Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said in his opening address, quoted by AFP.

"It needs to be met by an international stand and more importantly, a stand by which our brethren and neighbours support Iraq in this battle, which involves all states of the region."

Terrorism, he said, "is an international epidemic, the price of which is being paid by the people of Iraq, and our country is on the frontline of confrontation. "

He added that apart from threatening Iraq, the battle could spill over to all countries of the region, AP said.

Iran is a key supporter of the Shia majority in Iraq, while Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states would like to see a better deal for Iraq's Sunni minority.

But our correspondent says Iran and Saudi Arabia have been working closely together recently to help defuse similar conflicts in Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority and there are hopes that this spirit will give impetus to the conference.

Ahead of the talks, US President George W Bush - on a Latin American tour - spelt out a tough line, saying the US message to Syria and Iran was unchanged.

"We expect you to help this young democracy and we will defend ourselves and the people in Iraq from weapons being shipped," he said.

Limit on expectations

The conference comes amid a new security drive by US and Iraqi forces.

Mr Bush has ordered in more than 20,000 additional troops to try to quell the unrest.

BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says much of the interest in the talks will centre on whether US and Iranian officials try to seek some common ground.

US officials have made it clear that if approached directly by Iranian, or Syrian, representatives to talk about any Iraq-related matter they will not turn and walk away.

But our correspondent says expectations from such meetings should be limited.

The US has had no diplomatic relations with Iran for almost three decades, and its ties with Damascus have been severely strained.

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