ANKARA - Turkey said Tuesday that a meeting between foreign ministers of countries neighboring Iraq, already postponed once, will not go ahead before a new government is formed in Baghdad.
The meeting, originally scheduled to be held in Istanbul this week, was postponed to April 25-26, but the Turkish foreign ministry said Tuesday the event would take place in "a short period of time," without giving a definite date.
Ankara put off the conference because "efforts to form a new government in Iraq have not been finalized yet and the prime minister designate of the Iraqi government, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, informed (Ankara) of his wish to attend... and address the ministers," the statement said.
"The meeting will take place at a date depending on the conclusion of efforts to form a government in Iraq and in coordination with the neighboring countries," it said.
The meeting will give Iraq's neighbors an opportunity to "confirm their support for the political process in Iraq, review developments since the elections (in January) and exchange views on the coming stages of the political process," the statement said.
An Iraqi lawmaker involved in the negotiations to form the new government said in Baghdad earlier that the cabinet should be announced by the end of the week.
The last meeting of the foreign ministers of Iraq and its six neighbors -- Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- plus Egypt was held in Amman in January.
The ministers have met regularly since January 2003, when Turkey spearheaded the initiative as part of efforts to force Baghdad to comply with UN resolutions and avert a US intervention.
04/19/2005 11:38 GMT