November 18, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 22, 1424

WASHINGTON, Nov 17: The US State Department has summoned the ambassadors to the United States from most nations in the Middle East for a briefing on plans for Iraq’s transition to self-rule, officials said.

William Burns, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, was to speak to envoys or their chief deputies from 15 of the 17 countries covered by his bureau, the officials said.

Iran and Libya, with which Washington does not have diplomatic relations, will not be represented at the meeting, the officials said.

“It’s planned as a briefing on recent developments in Iraq, but I’m sure that the Israeli-Palestinian situation will also come up,” one official told said.

The envoys were summoned following weekend announcements in Baghdad about the accelerated timeframe for returning sovereignty to Iraq amid a new surge in attacks against US-led forces now occupying the country.

“We want to make sure everyone in the region is up to speed on this,” a second official said. —AFP