RIYADH, 21 April 2003 — Iraq’s neighbors, who held an emergency weekend meeting here, agreed on “essential” points but fell short on other “important” issues, mainly dealing with US military rule in Baghdad, diplomats said yesterday.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey and Syria, all bordering Iraq, plus Egypt and Bahrain, called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and the speedy formation of a national government in Baghdad.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the eight countries wanted to see a legitimate Iraqi government set up “immediately if possible,” but pending this, the occupying powers should ensure security in the country.

In a joint declaration, the ministers, who met to review the upheaval created by the fall of Saddam Hussein, underlined the need to uphold Iraq’s territorial integrity and called for a “central” UN role in post-war Iraq.

“All the eight countries, who have concerns and interests in Iraq, have called for the withdrawal of US and British troops, but no one provided a timetable,” said an Arab diplomat who attended the conference. “All of them want to see foreign troops out of Iraq, but they all know that a withdrawal now would create a big vacuum, and as a result, would hurt them more,” the diplomat told AFP.

The eight countries could not reach a consensus on whether they should deal with US military rule in Iraq.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Ankara would prefer to deal with a civil government in Baghdad, without explaining if it was prepared to work with a US military administration.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher said none of the participants at the meeting could live with a military government in Iraq and the Iraqi people should already have been engaged in picking their own government.

But Maher hinted at differences among participants.

“There could be divergent analyses (of the situation),” he said without elaborating.

Saudi columnist Dawood Al-Shirian said the eight countries had “deep differences about dealing with an interim Iraqi government,” to be installed by Washington soon. “It was clear that the conference failed in reaching a common vision toward this issue,” Shirian wrote in Al-Hayat newspaper yesterday, and warned this could prevent Arab countries from reaching Baghdad.

Answering a question on this issue, Prince Saud said at a press conference on Saturday: “We recognize the reality that there are occupation forces in Iraq ... but this does not prevent us from establishing contacts with Iraqis.”

The ministers “expressed their countries’ disagreement with allegations directed toward Syria” by the United States, after reportedly watering down the wording of their response.

Other differences related to the status of the Kurds in the north, Turkish demands on oil from the city of Kirkuk, and some of the figures tipped to become members of a future Iraqi government, one diplomat said.

Okaz newspaper said the conference “recorded a real success in diagnosing the real pains of post-war Iraq and confronting the possible fallout on the neighbors.”

“The regional conference has sent a clear message ... that Iraq is for the Iraqis,” the paper added.