AL official heads for Baghdad to prepare for Iraq reconciliation conf

Ambassador Ahmed Bin Heli, Arab League (AL) Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, left for Baghdad on Saturday with his accompanying delegation on a five-day visit to Iraq.

During the visit, the league's official will discuss with the various Iraqi parties setting a date for the preparatory meeting of the Iraqi national reconciliation conference, scheduled to be held in the second half of November at the Cairo-based Arab League General Secretariat.

The Arab League delegation is expected to meet with senior Iraqi officials on top of whom Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, Foreign Minister Hoshiar Zebari as well as the various Iraqi political powers and religious references to resume consultations, review final arrangements and set a date for the preparatory meeting of Iraqi reconciliation conference.

The Arab League delegation include Ambassador Ahmed Bin Heli, Director of the League Arab Affairs Administration Ali Garoush, Advisor to the Arab League secretary Counsellor Talaat Hamid, official in charge of the Iraqi file Lama Youssef and others.

The Arab League has recently informed the Arab ministerial committee on Iraq on the outcome of the visit paid to Iraq by the league's chief Amr Moussa and his meetings with the various factions in Iraq.

The committee groups Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq.