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 UNITED NATIONS, May 23 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister and Syria's ambassador to Sweden are among the officials expected to attend next week's ministerial meeting of the Iraq Compact Annual Review, U.N. officials said on Friday.
The talks in Stockholm will focus on assessing progress in implementing a peace and development plan to help rebuild the Iraq more than five years after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. U.N. officials told Reuters that Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is among participants who have confirmed that they will attend. Syria, which is sending its envoy to Sweden, will be represented at a much lower level. Washington accuses Iran of arming and training insurgents in Iraq in an attempt to destabilize the government. It says Syria allows arms and militants to cross its border into Iraq, fueling the anti-U.S. insurgency. Tehran and Damascus deny the U.S. accusations. The United Nations, which has been slowly rebuilding its presence in Iraq, is organizing the meeting in cooperation with the government of Sweden, which is hosting it. The International Compact with Iraq was launched a year ago in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau, editing by Patricia Zengerle) |
