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ROME - Iraq is planning to invite foreign ministers from neighbouring countries to a meeting in Baghdad as part of efforts to improve relations with them, the Iraqi foreign minister said today.
"It will be a turning point in how our neighbours view Iraq," Hoshiyar Zebari told reporters after a meeting with his Italian counterpart Massimo D'Alema in Rome.
He gave no other details on the proposed meeting, except to say he hoped that everyone invited would show up.
Fears that an Iraqi civil war would draw in neighbours on opposing sides, notably Iran behind its fellow Shi'ites and the Arab states behind Iraq's Sunni minority have increased pressure on the neighbouring countries to support a political solution in Iraq.
- REUTERS
