Foreign ministers of Iraq and its neighbours wound up a meeting here on Sunday by condemning "terror" attacks and agreeing to bolster border security amid emphasis on the June 30 deadline for transfer of power to Iraqis.
A statement released at the end of the two-day meeting stressed the need to safeguard the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the war-torn country and work for a swift withdrawal of occupation forces.
The forum, the fifth of its kind but the first in which Iraqi interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari took part, also underlined the importance of the United Nations' role in Iraq.
Zebari later told AFP in an interview Iraq and several neighbouring countries have agreed to form bilateral security committees to check cross-border infiltration by "terrorist" groups.
"We have asked neighbouring countries to help us in controlling the borders more effectively to prevent infiltrators and terrorist groups from sneaking into Iraq to carry out terrorist and criminal attacks," he said.
The final statement condemned "terrorist acts" in Iraq targeting Iraqi civilians, security forces, humanitarian and religious institutions as well as international organisations and diplomatic missions.
The ministers also called for a "smooth transfer of power to the Iraqi people," with the chief diplomat of the host country Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah warning that the aim of almost daily bombings in Iraq was to delay the hand-over of power.
The statement made no reference to Iraqi demands to tighten border security to curb infiltrators, but Sheikh Mohammad said that "controlling the borders is in the interest of all states in the region."
Ministers from Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey, along with Egypt and Bahrain, agreed to "re-emphasise the territorial integrity of Iraq together with respecting the sovereignty, independence and unity of Iraq, in addition to complying with the principles of non-interference in its internal affairs."
The next meeting is to take place in Egypt at an unspecified date, according to the statement. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher said it would be held before the June 30 deadline for the transfer of power to a provisional Iraqi government.
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