Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Turkey to host meeting of Iraq's neighbors

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Ankara, April 27, IRNA
Iraq-Turkey-Meeting
A meeting of countries neighboring Iraq is to be held on April 29 in Istanbul, Turkey, said a Turkish Foreign Ministry official on Wednesday.

The 8th meeting of Iraq's neighboring countries which is scheduled to open in Istanbul on April 29, is to be attended by the ministers of foreign affairs of Iraq's neighboring countries: Iran, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Turkey, said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan.

The Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa and the United Nations envoy to Iraq Ashraf Jahangir Qazi will also take part in the meeting, according to the Turkish official.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will definitely attend the meeting but the presence of Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has not been confirmed, he added.

Namik Tan noted that the venue of the 9th Iraq's neighboring countries will be set in this meeting.

The 7th meeting of countries neighboring Iraq was held on January 6, 2005 in Amman, the capital of Jordan in the presence of ministers of foreign affairs of Iraq's neighboring countries: Jordan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey.

The Conference of Iraq's Neighbors is aimed at exchanging viewpoints on current developments in Iraq.

It is expected that all the neighboring countries, except Saudi Arabia, will take part in the 8th foreign ministerial meeting of countries neighboring Iraq.

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::IRNA No.050 27/04/2005 18:34 --End