US Agrees To Mid-East Talks With Syria, Iran

IN A significant policy shift by the Bush Administration, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced a regional conference of Iraqs neighbours, including Iran and Syria, as well as the US, China, Russia and France.

The conference will discuss ways of stabilising Iraq and wider regional issues.

Dr Rice said the conference was proposed by the Iraqi Government, which would issue invitations and draw up an agenda, but most observers agreed that such a conference could not take place without US support.

Dr Rice, rather than Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, made the announcement, and she emphasised that President George Bush had approved the idea.

"We hope all governments will seize this opportunity to improve their relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region," she said.

Dr Rice announced the conference at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is considering a request from the Administration for an extra $100 billion in funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, on top of the $70 billion already allocated.

The proposed conference, which would unite the foreign ministers of Iraqs neighbours and the foreign ministers of the four permanent members of the UN Security Council, will be held next month. A planning meeting to take place in a fortnight, probably in Baghdad and comprising officials of the participating countries, including Iran and Syria, will set the agenda for the conference.

The Rice announcement represents a significant retreat by the Bush Administration from its long-held position that there was no point engaging with Iran and Syria, countries it accuses of fomenting sectarian violence in Iraq and arming militias that have attacked US forces in the country.

Dr Rice conceded that the Administration had changed its mind about a recommendation of the Iraq Study Group, a recommendation that President Bush rejected last December.

"President Bush and I agree that success in Iraq requires the positive support of Iraqs neighbours," she said. "This is one of the key findings of the Iraq Study Group and it is an important dimension that many in the Senate and in the Congress have brought to our attention."

Admitting that the Administration was responding to pressure from the Democrat-controlled Congress for a diplomatic initiative on Iraq comes days after reports, denied by the Administration, that the Pentagon was planning military strikes against Irans nuclear plants.

While Dr Rice continued to reject another recommendation of the Iraq Study Group — that the US engage directly with Iran and Syria without preconditions — she made it clear she would be prepared to talk to senior Syrian and Iranian officials at next months conference.

She said she wanted critics of the Administration to know that "we have listened".

The announcement came on the day that a Washington Post poll showed that, for the first time, a majority of Americans want a deadline set for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, and more than 65 per cent oppose the Administrations plan to send an extra 21,500 troops to Baghdad.

Doubts remain about whether Syria and Iran will agree to attend the conference, but whatever happens, it is clear that the Bush Administration has finally concluded that all of Iraqs neighbours must be involved if any plan to stabilise the country is to have a chance of working.

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