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Iraq snubs fresh invitation to Damascus meeting
Damascus, Nov 02: Iraq`s neighbours meeting in Damascus yesterday formally renewed their invitation to Iraq to join security talks, but the Iraqi foreign minister insisted the invitation had come too late for him to attend.
Damascus, Nov 02: Iraq's neighbours meeting in Damascus yesterday formally renewed their invitation to Iraq to join security talks, but the Iraqi foreign minister insisted the invitation had come too late for him to attend.
The foreign ministers' meeting, focussing on postwar regional stability and border security, came amid mounting US concern that foreign guerrillas entering Iraq across porous borders are behind a wave of deadly attacks.
Late on Friday, Syria had offered a last-minute invitation to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari to attend the talks but he refused, saying he had not received a proper invitation. That dispute overshadowed the meeting's opening on Saturday between the six countries bordering Iraq plus Egypt, and the seven ministers issued a second, formal invitation at the end of the day.
Zebari told a news agency in Baghdad: ''It is too little, too late. It has come so late that it will be very difficult for me to get to the talks in Damascus tomorrow, given the logistical problems and the attitude of the Syrian government.''
Zebari said he would discuss the invitation with Iraq's US.-appointed governing council on Sunday, and would issue a statement afterwards, but he was almost certain not to attend. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Salem Al-Sabah said the talks would only happen if Iraq was represented.
Concern about the impact of Iraq's political future on their own security has driven Middle East nations to hold periodic meetings, despite decades of mutual mistrust and more recent divisions over the US-led war that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Bureau Report
Late on Friday, Syria had offered a last-minute invitation to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari to attend the talks but he refused, saying he had not received a proper invitation. That dispute overshadowed the meeting's opening on Saturday between the six countries bordering Iraq plus Egypt, and the seven ministers issued a second, formal invitation at the end of the day.
Zebari told a news agency in Baghdad: ''It is too little, too late. It has come so late that it will be very difficult for me to get to the talks in Damascus tomorrow, given the logistical problems and the attitude of the Syrian government.''
Zebari said he would discuss the invitation with Iraq's US.-appointed governing council on Sunday, and would issue a statement afterwards, but he was almost certain not to attend. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Salem Al-Sabah said the talks would only happen if Iraq was represented.
Concern about the impact of Iraq's political future on their own security has driven Middle East nations to hold periodic meetings, despite decades of mutual mistrust and more recent divisions over the US-led war that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Bureau Report