Iraq to Lead Diplomatic Conference With Iran, Syria - washingtonpost.com

Iraq to Lead Diplomatic Conference With Iran, Syria - washingtonpost.com: "Iraq to Lead Diplomatic Conference With Iran, Syria

By Bill Brubaker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 27, 2007; 6:24 PM

Iraq is spearheading a new diplomatic initiative that will invite Iran and Syria to a spring 'neighbors conference' that also will include the United States, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a Senate committee this afternoon.

The United States' participation in the conference could suggest a change of heart for the Bush administration, which has largely resisted calls for dialogue with Iran and Syria -- nations it has accused of aiding terrorists during the four-year-old Iraq war.

'The violence occurring within the country has a decided impact on Iraq's neighbors,' Rice told the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is considering the administration's nearly $100 billion request to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'And Iraq's neighbors as well as the international community have a clear role to play in supporting the Iraqi government's effort to promote peace and national reconciliation within the country.'

Rice did not tell the committee if the United States would engage in direct talks with Iran and Syria during the conference, scheduled for April. The administration has repeatedly charged that Iran has supplied deadly weapon"