Region | Iraq
UN conference on Iraq set to begin in Sweden
A one-day meeting hosted by the United Nations to discuss progress in Iraq is set to begin in Stockholm later on Thursday.
- Agencies
- Published: 10:01 May 29, 2008
- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives in Sweden ahead of a one-day conference to discuss Iraq's progress.
- Image Credit: AP
Stockholm: A one-day meeting hosted by the United Nations to discuss progress in Iraq is set to begin in Stockholm later on Thursday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki arrived in Sweden's capital amid tight security, accompanied by several of his Cabinet members.
He will address the 500-delegate conference later on Thursday, and is expected to push for debt relief and demand that some countries cancel debt and war compensation dating back to Saddam Hussain's regime.
"Iraq is demanding world countries to reopen embassies and to cancel debts," Al Maliki told reporters in Stockholm.
Iraq owes at least $67 billion in foreign debt and much of it comes from Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Another top issue on the agenda will be Iraq's security concerns and its political status.
The international community will likely press for reconciliation among the country's Sunni, Shiite and Kurd blocs.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will also attend the conference, which is the first annual review of the International Compact with Iraq.
The compact, which Ban helped negotiate last May in Egypt, sets out a five-year economic and political reform plan and defines international help for Iraq.
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