Iraq stability meeting in May

A meeting between Iraq, its neighbours and world powers to follow up earlier talks aimed at stabilising the country will be held in Egypt in the first week of May, Iraq's foreign minister yesterday.

The meeting, a rare opportunity for Washington and its adversaries Iran and Syria to sit at the same table, had been expected to take place in Istanbul in early April but Hoshiyar Zebari said the Iraqi government wanted it to be in Egypt.

Zebari said there will be 21 ministers at the meeting, including officials from G8 nations and the European Union. US officials in Baghdad have said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would attend.

It will follow a conference last month where US diplomats met with representatives from Iran and Syria to urge them to stop supporting insurgents and stem Shi'ite-Sunni sectarian violence from spreading to other countries in the region.

Syria and Iran deny Washington's charge that they support militants, while the US has spurned suggestions that it should reach out to them for help in stabilising Iraq.