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ISTANBUL, April 29 (AFP) - 12h26 - Iraqi Prime
Minister Ibrahim Jaafari will not attend a meeting
of Iraq's neighbors in Istanbul Saturday even though
he wished to participate, a senior Turkish official
said here Friday.
"Jaafari had said he wanted to come but even though
the (new Iraqi) government has been formed, the
process is not yet completed," the official said.
After more than three months of political wrangling
since elections in January, Jaafari announced
Thursday only a partial line-up of the new cabinet
that was approved by parliament but frustrated the
Sunni Arab community.
Several key posts, including the oil and defence
portfolios, have yet to be allocated. Jaafari
insisted, however, that all major hurdles had been
cleared and that a full 37-member cabinet list would
be presented within days.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari is expected to
attend the meeting in Istanbul, which the Turkish
hosts postponed twice earlier this month in
anticipation of the new government in Baghdad.
The meeting would bring Zebari together with
counterparts from Iraq's six neighbors -- Iran,
Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey --
plus Egypt and Bahrain.
Diplomats from the participant countries were
scheduled to meet later Friday to prepare the ground
for the ministerial gathering.
The foreign 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.
AFP
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