www.csua.org/u/ilp -> www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/03/iraq.conference.ap/index.html
Iraq Transition US and Syria discuss foreign fighters in Iraq Story Highlights NEW: US and Syria diplomats discuss foreign fighters crossing into Iraq US-Syrian meeting first high-level contact between countries in years Condoleezza Rice and Syria's foreign minister meet before Iraq conference Conference of nearly 50 nations seeks to create a plan to stabilize Iraq. Adjust font size: Decrease font Decrease font Enlarge font Enlarge font SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she raised the issue of foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria in talks with Syria's foreign minister Thursday. But, she said, "I didn't lecture him and he didn't lecture me" in the first high-level meeting in years between the two countries. Rice described her half-hour with Syria's Waleed Moallem on the sidelines of a major regional conference on Iraq as "professional" and "businesslike." Ahead of the meeting, a US military spokesman in Baghdad said Syria had stemmed the flow of foreign fighters across its border, a chief demand of the United States. "There has been some movement by the Syrians," said Maj Gen. "There has been a reduction in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq" for more than a month. The Bush administration has shunned Syria, accusing it of fueling tensions in Iraq and Lebanon, and it assailed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her visit last month to Damascus. But the White House has been under pressure to talk with Syria and Iran, the chief US opponents in the Mideast. "There was an opportunity to talk about the problem of foreign fighters -- a major source of the suicide bombings. I thought it was a good opportunity to talk to the foreign minister about it," Rice said after the meeting. "I didn't lecture him and he didn't lecture me," Rice said. She said she was not seeking a similar meeting with Iran's foreign minister. The Iraqi government is pressing for talks between Rice and Iran's foreign minister, saying Washington's conflict with the government in Tehran is fueling instability in Iraq. Rice and the Iranian "said hello, that's about it," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, although both American and Iranian officials had earlier spoken favorably of a possible meeting. But their contacts Thursday were limited to brief exchange over lunch, when Mottaki entered the room with the Arabic greeting, "As-salama aleikum," or "Peace be upon you," according to an Iraqi official who was at the meeting. Rice replied, "Hello," then added to Mottaki, "Your English is better than my Arabic," the official told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity to give details of the closed lunch. Rice's meeting with Moallem marked the first such high-level talks since the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria denies it had anything to do with the killing, but US and European officials have since shunned the Damascus government. "I made clear we don't want to have a difficult relationship with Syria, but we need to have some basis for a better relationship."
Video ) Syria's official news agency SANA said Rice and Moallem discussed "the situation in Iraq and the need to achieve security and stability in that country" and the need to develop US-Syrian ties "in a way that serves the achievement of peace, security and stability in the region." International support sought for stability Baghdad and the United States hope Thursday and Friday's conference of nearly 50 nations at this Egyptian Red Sea resort will rally strong international support -- particularly from Arab nations -- for an ambitious plan to stabilize Iraq. The United States pressed hard in the weeks before the conference to get Arab countries' participation and urge them to forgive Iraq's billions of dollars of debt -- and it was with that request that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened the conference. But Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, made no immediate public pledge, telling the conference only that his country "has expressed its readiness to alleviate some of the debts on Iraq." Al-Faisal said Saudi Arabia was negotiating the issue with Iraq "in line with the regulations and bases of the Paris Club" -- which calls for forgiving 80 percent of Iraq's debts. Iraqi and US officials had said Saudi Arabia privately had already committed to forgiving 80 percent of Iraq's $17 billion debt. The conference aims in part to overcome differences between al-Maliki's Shiite-led government and Sunni Arab nations, which are demanding that the Iraqi government ensure greater participation by Sunni Arabs in Iraq's political process. Al-Maliki pledged to institute reforms to boost Sunni participation but said forgiving Iraq of its debts was the only way the country could rebuild.
Video ) "We call on all the friends and brothers participating in this conference to forgive Iraq all its debts in order to enable it to start the projects," he said.
Soldiers thwart plot to turn school into a bomb American soldiers discovered a girls' school being built north of Baghdad had become an explosives-rigged "death trap," the US military said Thursday.
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