Originally published 01:07 a.m., March 11, 2007, updated 12:00 a.m., March 11, 2007

Talks target 'epidemic' of Iraq violence

BAGHDAD -- Punctuated by explosions from mortar shells falling nearby, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened a much-anticipated international conference yesterday with a plea for help in ending his nation's "epidemic" of violence.

Behind closed doors, envoys from the United States and Iran accused each other of fomenting the bloodshed that threatens to tear Iraq apart. And though U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad described the session as "constructive," he did not meet one-on-one with Iranian representatives as some had expected.

"This international epidemic, the price of which is being paid by the people of Iraq, with Iraq its first theater of confrontation, needs to be met by an international stand," Mr. al-Maliki said in opening the one-day meeting held in Iraq's Foreign Affairs Ministry building in downtown Baghdad.

Later, as delegates conferred behind closed doors, a car bomb in the Sadr City section of northeastern Baghdad killed up to 18 persons and injured 40. "This is part of the threat toward us," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said of the attack.

While U.S., Iranian and Syrian envoys did not sit down to much-anticipated talks with each other, they did shake hands before the meetings began and spoke directly to one another during multilateral talks involving Iraq's security, according to Mr. al-Dabbagh.

Mr. Khalilzad said both nations expressed an interest in bilateral talks with Washington.

"They are willing to engage bilaterally, as well as multilaterally, and that there is, from their perspective, an area of common interest with regard to helping Iraq stabilize and succeed, and in the course of the discussions about the issues, offering proposals to narrow the differences between the various sides," he said.

"The overall mood was businesslike, constructive exchanges, nobody was pounding the table, the exchanges were quite, I would say, ordinary, and there was a frank and sometimes even jovial exchanges," he said after the meeting.

Mr. Khalilzad declined to provide details of the discussions.

The Associated Press reported that one note of discord came when U.S. envoy David Satterfield pointed to his briefcase, which he said contained documents proving Iran was arming Shi'ite Muslim militias in Iraq.

"Your accusations are merely a cover for your failures in Iraq," Iran's chief envoy, Abbas Araghchi, shot back, an official familiar with the discussions told the AP on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Labid Abbawi, a senior Iraqi Foreign Ministry official who attended the meeting, confirmed that an argument broke out between the Iranian and American envoys, but did not elaborate, the AP said.

The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran after its 1979 Islamic revolution and representatives of the two nations have rarely met in public since.

Relations between the U.S. and Iran have been further strained by the Bush administration push to sanction Iran over its nuclear program and accusations from Washington that Tehran is providing arms that are used to kill U.S. troops in Iraq.

U.S.-Syrian relations have been tense since the U.S. -- and much of the international community -- accused Syria of involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

The Bush administration also blames Syria for allowing weapons and fighters to flow into Iraq.

The conference yesterday in Baghdad -- the first of its kind here since 1990 -- was attended by 69 delegates representing 13 countries, including the United States, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Representatives from the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the United Nations and the four other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council were also in attendance.

The most significant result of the talks, which were viewed as a first step toward bringing nations in the region together to work toward stabilizing Iraq, was an agreement to form committees to address Iraq's security situation, its refugee crisis and energy policy.

A second conference involving higher-ranking delegates is scheduled for April, but the location is still a matter of contention with U.S. representatives pushing for Istanbul, and Iraq insisting that it be held in Baghdad.

Mr. Khalilzad appealed for Iraq's neighbors to control their borders in order to "halt the flow of fighters, weapons and other lethal support to militias and other illegal armed groups, and cease sectarian rhetoric and other propaganda that could incite violence."

Mr. Araghchi restated Tehran's demands for a clear timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces, which he insisted had made Iraq a magnet for extremists from across the Muslim world, the AP reported.

"For the sake of peace and stability in Iraq ... we need a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces," said Mr. Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs.

Mr. Araghchi said he had no face-to-face private talks with Mr. Khalilzad and that the discussions were "within the framework of the meeting." He spoke of "very good interaction by all the delegations."