DAMASCUS, Syria, April 14 (UPI) -- Syria hosted a conference in Damascus aimed at addressing security needs in Iraq amid broader discussions on regional coordination and cooperation.
Diplomats from Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as representatives from the Arab League and the United States, attended the conference, which ends Tuesday, the al-Alam news agency reported Monday.
The meeting pre-empts an international ministerial conference on Iraqi security matters held in Kuwait on April 22. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to attend along with other regional leaders.
Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel-Majid told the delegates Syria maintained its pledge to stabilize Iraq and preserve its sovereignty.
"Our objective is to help the Iraqi people to ... ensure security and stability, and preserve the unity of Iraq," Abdel-Majid said.
He blamed other foreign nations for failing to give Syrian officials the technology they needed to secure the border with Iraq but said officials had stepped up security operations to curtail foreign fighters and weapons from entering Iraq through Syria.
Abdel-Majid reminded reporters that all of Iraq's neighbors shared the responsibility of securing the Iraqi border to stabilize the region.
