Brussels, 02/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - An international conference of countries bordering on Iraq and international powers will be held in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt on 3-4 May. Alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the conference will be attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and representatives of neighbouring countries like Iran and Syria, and some of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, UK and France). In the past, the EU was not invited to meetings of Iraq's neighbours and superpowers, but has been invited to attend this conference for the first time. The meeting will be extended on Friday to members of G8, explains the official Egyptian press agency MENA, adding that the foreign ministers of a total of 36 countries have confirmed that they will be attending. Iran has also agreed to take part. Official Iranian sources report that a high-ranking delegation headed by Foreign Minister Manouchar Mottaki would be attending the conference on Iraq. The Iranians agreed to attend after the recent talks between Baghdad and Tehran on issues to be discussed at the conference, and intense diplomacy last weekend. Iraqi sources suggest that Iran had been convinced that the conference was vital. Attention is focussing on the fact that at the conference Iran and the United States may be able to enter dialogue.
Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, is reported to have attempted to dispel mistrust among Iraq's neighbours of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, accused of wanting to set Sunni Muslims against Shias. Iraq's neighbours have 'everything to lose' if they fail to use their influence to stabilise Iraq, she said, which she wants to see becoming a stable, unified and democratic country, a pillar of stability in the Middle East, adding that an unstable Iraq that is not an Iraq for all, would be a source of instability in the region. Rice accuses Middle Eastern countries, particularly Iran and Syria, of failing to act in the interests of a stable, unified Iraq, by arming Shia militias. President Bush, however, stressed that Iran and Syria had been invited to the conference, which would be an important test to know whether these regimes really wanted to play a constructive role in Iraq. Washington is expecting Saudi Arabia to make a big gesture by cancelling Iraq's debt, estimated to stand at between $15 bn and 18 bn. (fb)