A European Union delegation headed by its foreign policy chief Javier Solana and British Foreign Minister Jack Straw met Thursday with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad to discuss a donor conference that will be held later this month. Solana, Straw, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and Luxembourg Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn, met Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Luxembourg currently holds the EU's rotating six-month presidency. «Foreign Secretary Straw is here and has held a series of meetings including with president Talabani this morning,» a British Embassy spokeswoman said. «The purpose of the visit is part of an EU troika mission with the Iraqi government.» More than 80 countries and international organizations have been invited to the one-day session on June 22 in Brussels. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is also expected to attend, along with foreign ministers of several European nations and Iraq. Top representatives from the United Nations, the Arab League and Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, would attend the conference, which will aim to bolster international support for political and economic reforms and back efforts to draft a constitution, AP reported. Iraq is expected to send a large delegation to the conference.
