Straw underlines the importance of dialogue with Syria, Iran

Britain yesterday announced the importance of continuing dialogue with Syria and Iran and that the two countries should help in building a better future for post- war Iraq.

At the British parliament, the British foreign office secretary Jacque Straw said it is important to maintain a dialogue with Syria and Iran in order to play their role in building a better future for Iraq.

Straw said that the minister at the British foreign office Mike O' Brian will visit the two countries shortly.

Straw also said he, himself, will head next week to the Gulf to visit several Arab states.

Meantime, a spokesman for the German government said that the German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the UK prime minister Tony Blair will meet next Tuesday in Hanover to discuss the situation in Iraq and the European security.

The spokesman added that the meeting of Schroeder and Blair comes after the meeting of the leaders of France, Russia and Germany who oppose the American- British war against Iraq by the end of this week in Petersburg in Russia.

In Paris, the French Prime minister Jan Pierre Rafaran said that France will commit to work for enabling the Iraqi people handling their establishments by their own as soon as possible. In a speech before the French parliament, Rafran said "we commit to work for enabling the Iraqi people to enjoy as soon as possible stability and to have their own establishments, run by them to ensure the future."