Ahmadinejad steals the show at summit

SHANGHAI - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offered energy cooperation to oil-thirsty China and other countries yesterday, seeking to win friends but avoiding direct mention of Iran's nuclear standoff with the West.

Ahmadinejad was attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as one of four observer states, but his presence threatened to overshadow the meeting and upstage his hosts.

"Iran is ready to further expand cooperation with SCO member states in the interest of international peace and security," he said.

Ahmadinejad was speaking after leaders of the SCO's six members - China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - had assembled for the one-day summit, hoping to tighten security cooperation.

He said Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, was ready to host a meeting of energy ministers from SCO countries to explore more effective cooperation in the exploration, exploitation, transport and processing of oil and gas. Iran is China's third-biggest supplier of crude oil imports.

The SCO was born out of the "Shanghai Five" which was founded in 1996 to demilitarise the border between China and the former Soviet Union

China now sees it as a way to protect development in the largely Muslim region to its west, arguing that it is a bulwark against terrorist activities and religious extremism.

However, United States officials have suggested China and Russia want to use the group to counter Washington's influence in Central Asia, where the US military has bases or access to facilities.

- REUTERS