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Iraq urges MEast powers to unite against `terror`
blasts and sporadic gunfire echoed around Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched talks with envoys from Middle Eastern states and from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
The Iraqi premier demanded that occupied Iraq not be made a battlefield for a proxy war between regional powers - an implicit reference to the rivalry between Shiite Iran and Iraq`s Sunni Arab neighbors.
"We wish to have our neighbors` support for confronting terrorism," said Maliki in his opening address to the assembled diplomats, warning that the violence gripping Iraq could spread throughout the region.
"The terrorism that today is trying to kill Iraqis in Baghdad, Hilla, Mosul and Anbar is the same as the terror that intimidated the population of Saudi Arabia, targeted the people of Egypt, attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and hit underground trains in Madrid and London.
"This 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 said.
Following the opening address, envoys repaired for closed-door talks at which they were to discuss the drafting of a common statement and a date and a location for a follow-up meeting of higher-level ministers. The meeting was expected to last one day.
US occupation commanders accuse Iran of smuggling weapons to Muslim Shiite fighters in Iraq, including components for lethal roadside bombs that have been blamed for the deaths of at least 170 US occupation soldiers since May 2004.
All five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - took part, along with the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Most were represented simply by their ambassadors in Iraq. From the region Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey sent representatives.
The Iraqi foreign ministry, which is just outside the fortified Green Zone, was under tight security ahead of the conference, and dogs were sent into the building ahead of officials to check for bombs.