Ministers start talks on Mideast roadmap

Arab foreign ministers were engaged in preliminary talks last night in Manama on the roadmap to peace in the Middle East.

They will start their formal meeting this morning and will also discuss the situation in Iraq, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said yesterday.

The 13 members of the Arab ministerial follow-up and steering committee meeting, to be chaired by Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, is expected to set the Arab tone with regard to the new peace plan.

"If all parties concerned, including the U.S., ensured the implementation of the roadmap, we will have a shining landmark on the way to achieving a fair peace in the region," Moussa said. Today's meeting will also review the latest developments in Iraq.

Sources told Gulf News the ministers will call for a "strong central" role for the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq and the need to set up a government in the U.S.-occupied country "as soon as possible".

"The ministers will urge the occupying forces to ensure security and stability in Iraq to allow suitable conditions for the establishment of a national government in which all the country's group would be represented," the sources said.