Diplomacy whirlwind at Iraq conference in Istanbul
ISTANBUL (AFP) — France and Syria held their first high-level meeting in two years here Friday as foreign ministers from major Western powers and regional countries gathered for talks on ways to stabilise war-torn Iraq.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned his counterpart Walid Muallem against any Syrian interference in efforts to overcome the standoff in Lebanon's presidential elections.
"We have made it very clear to Syria ... that a political vacuum in Lebanon could destabilise the entire region and would not be in Syria's interest," Kouchner said.
It was the first ministerial meeting between the two countries since former French president Jacques Chirac suspended high-level contacts with Syria after former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, a personal friend, was assassinated in February 2005.
An initial UN inquiry implicated Damascus, although it has denied any involvement.
The Istanbul conference on Iraq, the second of its kind after a first gathering in Egypt in May, aims to boost global support for efforts to end daily bloodshed in the country.
The meeting, which began late Friday and will continue Saturday, brings together foreign ministers and senior government officials from 17 countries -- Iraq, its neighbours, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the G8.
Iraqi leaders say there has been a downward trend in violence in recent months and feel they are in a stronger position to convince the international community that the situation in their country is improving.
But Turkey's threat to launch a cross-border operation against bases of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, coupled with accusations that the region's Iraqi Kurdish leadership harbours and aids the separatists, has raised fresh tensions.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who held talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara earlier to dissuade them from military action, met for an hour with Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari as soon as she arrived in Istanbul.
Diplomats also raised the possibility that the crisis may be further tackled at a three-way meeting Saturday between Rice, Zebari and their Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan.
Rice was also expected to organise multilateral talks on the political crisis in Lebanon, diplomats said.
Ankara has said it will not allow the PKK crisis to hijack the agenda of the Istanbul talks and eclipse efforts to stabilise Iraq.
The ministers began meeting over dinner Friday to put the final touches on a joint declaration to be issued after their talks on Saturday.
They dined at a restaurant on the banks of the Bosphorus Strait, with Rice seated close to Syrian foreign minister Muallem and facing her counterpart from arch-foe Iran, Manouchehr Mottaki, an AFP correspondent said.
The United States accuses Iran-linked groups of funding, arming and training insurgents fighting US troops in Iraq, while it blames Syria for failing to stop foreign fighters slipping through its border to fight in Iraq. Tehran and Damascus deny the charges.
The joint declaration is expected to call for increased efforts against "all terrorist activities targeting Iraq and emanating from Iraq," a Turkish diplomat said.
Participants are also expected to discuss efforts to help end Iraq's sectarian violence, find ways of resolving the country's energy crisis and address the plight of four million Iraqis either displaced internally or who have fled to Jordan and Syria.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Reza Bageri said Iran would present "a very important plan for Iraq and the Iraqi people," but gave no details other than saying that it included elements concerning security.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the heads of the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, as well as European Union officials are also attending the talks.
