Maliki in Sweden for reconstruction summit

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 28 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived in Sweden Wednesday to attend an international conference on Iraqi political progress and reconstruction.

The International Compact for Iraq summit kicks off in Stockholm Thursday. Officials expect more than 500 international delegates to attend the meeting, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Maliki plans to address the delegates on a wide variety of issues, Voices of Iraq reported. A statement released by his office says his speech outlines the political progress in Iraq over the last year, the relative calm in the country and moves toward sustainable economic development.

The meeting was announced April 30 by the Swedish Foreign Affairs Ministry. The Stockholm summit aims to generate support from the international community toward Iraq's development. It follows an earlier meeting in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, in 2007.

"The primary focus is to build a framework for Iraq's economic transformation and integration into the regional and global economy," reads a statement from the ICI Web site.