Bomber strikes as security meet opens in Baghdad

A suicide bomber attacked an army checkpoint in Baghdad killing 26 people near the venue of a major conference of foreign envoys...

A suicide bomber attacked an army checkpoint in Baghdad killing 26 people near the venue of a major conference of foreign envoys, including those of arch foes US and Iran. Iraq called Saturday’s meeting to enlist support to end violence four years after the US invasion, but it was also a rare opportunity for officials from Washington and Tehran to meet at a time of growing tension over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad urged Iraq’s neighbours and other world powers to do more to help Iraq’s transition and stop the flow of fighters, weapons and sectarian propaganda.

“I urge all neighbours to categorically reject the principle that selective violence against certain categories of Iraqis or against Coalition and Iraqi security forces is acceptable,” Khalizad said.

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A source at the talks said Iranian delegates demanded the release of several Iranians captured by US forces in Iraq, including five men Tehran says are diplomats who were detained in a raid on an Iranian government office in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on Jan 11.

Six soldiers were among those killed when the suicide attacker rammed a military position guarding the entrance to the east Baghdad Shiite enclave of Sadr City as part of a city-wide operation to quell sectarian violence.

Iraq’s prime minister appealed for international help to sever networks aiding extremists and warned envoys from neighbours and world powers that Iraq’s growing sectarian bloodshed could spill across the Middle East.

“Iraqi has become a front-line battlefield,” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told delegates. He expressed hope the conference could be a “turning point in supporting the government in facing this huge danger.”

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Shortly after the meeting began under tight security, at least two mortar shells fell near the Foreign Ministry.

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