ROME — Iraq’s foreign minister plans to host a meeting in Baghdad of neighbouring countries’ foreign ministers, he said, stressing it could help change how these countries view the strife-torn country. The meeting would mark “an important turning point in these countries’ vision of the situation in Iraq,” Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Tuesday, following talks with his Italian counterpart. He did not say when the meeting would happen or which countries would participate.US officials say two of Iraq’s neighbours, Iran and Syria, are supporting the insurgency, and American forces have twice detained Iranians in Iraq. Iraq, however, has recently been making overtures to its two large neighbours.
Italian Premier Romano Prodi has said that both Iran and Syria should be involved in talks if the region is to be stabilized. Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema reiterated in a joint news conference with Zebari that “Iraq’s stability can be achieved through an active participation by countries in the region to avoid Iraq being seen ... as a battlefield.”