Iraq plans summit with Iran and Syria

Iraqi officials have not invited the United States to the meeting, which also could include Iraq's other neighbors, the United Nations and the Arab League. The meeting is intended to "promote support for the government of Iraq on security and other issues," said Samir Shakir Mahmoud Sumaidy, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States.

Sumaidy, speaking in Washington, said the summit was part of a series of regional gatherings sponsored by Iraq's fledgling government that have not included nations from outside the region. It is tentatively scheduled to start March 10.

The meeting comes at a time when U.S. officials have accused Iran of meddling in Iraq. The Bush administration also has complained that Syria is allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq, and it is urging Sunni Arab neighbors to help stabilize the country by applying pressure on their Sunni Muslim allies in Iraq.

U.S. welcomes meeting

But U.S. officials, who have encouraged the Iraqi government to try to work through security issues and to try to win more economic and political support from its neighbors, reacted positively to the summit announcement Thursday.

"We support such an effort by the Iraqi government," said Lou Fintor, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. "We have ourselves worked with many of Iraq's neighbors to encourage them to support Iraq, diplomatically and politically."

Iraqi officials, while acknowledging that some Iranians have been involved in violence in Iraq, have said they do not want their country to become a military theater in the rivalries of foreign powers.

"The United States is clearly helping us with our security issues," Sumaidy said. But he added, "We don't want to be the battleground for anyone else's fighting each other, or confronting each other."

U.S. and Iraqi military officials are in discussions about American plans to go on the offensive against Iranian agents who are seen as threatening U.S. troops or Iraqis, the Iraqi ambassador said.

Iraqi forces want "maximum coordination" with the American troops on the issue, Sumaidy said. He said U.S. and Iraqi leaders, including Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in Iraq, might decide that they need to conduct each operation jointly, or at least that the Iraqis be informed of each mission.