Al Maliki to discuss Iran role in Iraq during talks

Baghdad : Iraq wants to discuss evidence of Iranian intervention in Iraq and the two countries' overall relationship during a visit to Tehran this week by Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, a government spokesman said on Monday.

It will be Al Maliki's second visit to Tehran after he travelled to Iran in August last year and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a visit to Baghdad in March. Government officials would not confirm the date of the visit, but local media in Iraq and Iran said it would be on Saturday.

Al Maliki's government treads a fine line in its relations with Iran, accused by the US of supporting Shiite militias in Iraq while at the same time seeking support from its neighbour.

"Part of the talks will discuss the subject of the evidence of Iranian intervention in Iraq. We will also talk about the entire relationship with Iran," government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said. "All the issues will be on the table."

Meanwhile, in violence, five people were killed, including a civilian man who died in a roadside bomb attack that targeted a police patrol in Baghdad.