RIYADH, April 18: Iraq’s neighbours, meeting here on Friday to discuss the aftermath of the fall of President Saddam Hussein’s government, agreed on “essential points” pertaining to the country’s future, but had different readings on others, Egypt’s Ahmad Maher said.

The foreign ministers of countries bordering Iraq, plus Egypt and Bahrain, “are agreed on the need to uphold Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity”, the Egyptian foreign minister said.

“This requires the withdrawal of foreign forces in order to enable the Iraqi people to choose their government in full freedom. Moreover, the United Nations must play an essential role” in Iraq, he said.

Mr Maher said the countries represented at the meeting — host Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey and Syria, all neighbours of Iraq, in addition to Egypt and current Arab League chair Bahrain — hoped US and British forces would pull out of Iraq “as soon as possible”.

Mr Maher hinted at differences among participants.

“There could be divergent analyses (of the situation),” he said without elaborating.

He added that the meeting, “which had been due to extend into Saturday, will go on in the evening due to the commitments of some ministers who must leave Riyadh” overnight.

The differences relate to the status of the Kurds in the north, Turkish demands on oil from the city of Kirkuk and the identity of certain figures tipped to become members of a future Iraqi government, an Arab diplomat said.

The foreign ministers were expected to call for a limit to the length of US forces’ stay in Iraq and to reject mounting US warnings to Syria.—AFP