CAIRO, April 5: Top intelligence officers from several Arab countries and Turkey have been meeting secretly to coordinate their governments’ strategies in case civil war erupts in Iraq and in an attempt to block Iran’s interference in the war-torn nation, Arab diplomats said on Tuesday.

The four diplomats said intelligence chiefs from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey held a series of meetings over the last few weeks to assess the situation in Iraq and work out plans to avoid any regional backlash that may result from sectarian conflict in Iraq.

The diplomats in several Middle Eastern capitals, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Iran and Syria have been excluded from the talks.

“They are part of the problem, not of the solution,” said one diplomat whose country is involved in the talks.

He said the officials are focusing on the proposed US-Iranian dialogue and the implications on Arabs and Turkey of any ‘American-Iranian deal’.

Reports in the Arab press have suggested that any agreement between Washington and Tehran will be at the expense of Arabs.

On Monday, an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad said the US-Iranian contacts will be initiated in the Iraqi capital but he did not say when.

Arab nations are deeply concerned about what they see as Iran’s growing influence in Iraq.

Turkey is worried about Iraq’s split into sectarian and ethnic entities that will give rise to Kurdish ambitions for independence.—AP