Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said a ministerial meeting in early November of the country's neighbors and key international supporters will be the most important ever because it will hopefully move from words and promises to action. The high-level meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, will be a follow-up to a May meeting in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. Zebari said he expects U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as well as the foreign ministers of Russia, France, Italy, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to be among the participants at the two-day meeting, which is likely to take place Nov. 2-3. This time, Zebari said, the Iraqi government has crystallized its ideas and made recommendations in three key areas _ security, refugees and energy _ and it will be confronting ministers with a list of achievable measures. At the Istanbul meeting, he said, «I think we'll be in a stronger position to tell our neighbors that these are what Iraq needs, and we expect you, in front of this international gathering, to live up to your commitments and your pledges,» Zebari said in an interview Saturday night with the Associated Press.
