Turkish FM Due To Egypt

ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will go to Egyptian capital of Cairo on Wednesday to attend the sixth meeting of countries neighbor to Iraq, sources said on Tuesday.
Sources said that foreign ministers of Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey would participate in the meeting.
Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, who was appointed as the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan`s Special Representative for Iraq last week, was also invited to the meeting, the sources noted.
The sources said that European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who was expected to be in Cairo on Wednesday for his tour to the Middle East, might join the meeting.
The sixth meeting of countries neighbor to Iraq is importance since it is the first meeting to be held after sovereignty was transferred to Iraqi people at the end of June.
The meetings were initiated by Turkey and aimed to help Iraq`s reconstruction, the sources said.
Participants will discuss recent developments, security, and preparations for elections in Iraq.
Diplomatic sources said that participants would once more confirm in their meeting Iraq`s territorial integrity, political unity, and that all Iraqi people had the right to benefit from country`s resources and to live in peace in the country.
The sources stated that UN`s participation in this process demonstrated that its commitment regarding Iraq still continued.
Both UN and the Iraqi officials had the opportunity to learn views of neighboring countries about sensitive issues in these meetings, the sources pointed out.
The sources said that neighboring countries favored continuation of the process in certain intervals.
Possible contribution of NATO to training of Iraqi security forces could also be taken up in Cairo meeting, but it would not top the agenda since it was an issue under responsibility of NATO Secretariat General, the sources noted.
The meeting is expected to start at 10.00 a.m. on Wednesday and end in the evening. Gul will return to Turkey after the meeting.
The official meeting of countries neighbor to Iraq was earlier held in Istanbul, Riyadh, Tehran, Damascus and Kuwait. Concerned officials held an unofficial meeting in Istanbul in June as a part of the Conference of Foreign Ministers of Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Iraq only joined the fifth official meeting in Kuwait and the unofficial meeting in Istanbul since the process was initiated.
(BRC-AÖ) 20.07.2004