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ANKARA, April 17 (AFP) - 8h07 - A meeting
scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Istanbul between
foreign ministers of countries neighboring Iraq has
been postponed for a week because of delays in
forming the new Iraqi government, a foreign ministry
spokesman said Sunday.
The meeting was rescheduled at the request of Iraqi
prime minister-designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who
called Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul late
Saturday, saying he wanted to attend, but would be
unable to form his new cabinet before the middle of
next week, on Tuesday or Wednesday, the spokesman
said.
Gul agreed to the request and the meeting is now
expected to take place on April 25-26, he said.
The first day of the meeting will be among
high-level officials of the countries neighboring
Iraq, with the foreign ministers meeting on the
second and final day.
The last meeting of the foreign ministers of Iraq
and its six neighbors -- Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia, Syria 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.
AFP
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