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WASHINGTON, Sept 26: Iraq will organize an international conference as early as next month seeking out foreign support in the effort to rebuild and restore order in the violence-wracked country , US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday.
"This was a way to reach out to Iraq's immediate neighbours and persuade them that this is the time to help Iraq, so that the region can become stable," Powell told CNN television, saying that the conference likely would be held in late October or early November.
Powell said the list of participants could include Iraq's humidity neighbours as well as several industrialised nations. "It will be a conference in the region... so that all of Iraq's neighbours can sit with (Iraqi) Prime Minister (Iyad) Allawi and his cabinet and discuss why it is in the interest of the whole neighbourhood for there to be a stable Iraq with an elected government, resting on the basis of a democratic system that is no threat to any of its neighbours," Powell said in further comments made on the "Fox News Sunday" programme.
"With the presence of the industrialised nations, I think it adds a little bit more oomph to the conference and brings in those who can contribute more in the way of resources, to stabilising the situation and helping the Iraqi people," Powell said.
He said the gathering would likely take place in the Middle East, although no definite site has been set. "There are a couple of cities that are being considered - Amman, Cairo - there may be other places that it could be held," he said.
Powell swept aside suggestions that Washington was behind organizing the event - possibly to counter recent statements by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who has said an international conference is needed to address the spiralling violence in Iraq. "That's not the case. This is an idea of Prime Minister Allawi," he told Fox.
BORDER TALKS: Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday that tripartite talks were underway on securing the Iraqi-Syrian border, bringing together the United States and the two neighbours, and said that Damascus had taken a "positive" approach in addressing US concerns.
"We believe Syria can do more, and I had conversations earlier this week with the Syrian foreign minister, and Syria is prepared to enter into discussions with the Iraqi interim government and with coalition forces," Powell told CNN television.
"That is happening, and we're calling them tripartite talks on the border. It's a very porous border. It's not an easy border to control." "But with additional technical equipment put in place and with cooperation between the sides, we can do a better job," he said.
"The conversations I had with the Syrians this week did not clear up all the outstanding issues that we have with the Syrians, but I found it to be more positive than the earlier conversations."
Powell met Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara on Wednesday on the fringes of the annual session of the UN General Assembly, where he said Syria had adopted a "helpful" attitude in addressing US concerns about patrolling its border with Iraq and meeting a UN call to withdraw troops from Lebanon. -AFP
