European, Arab FMs meet for first time since start of Iraq war

PARIS (AFP) Apr 08, 2003
Foreign ministers from 10 European and north African countries will meet Wednesday and Thursday on the French Riviera for talks likely to focus on the war in Iraq, the French foreign ministry announced.

It will be the third meeting of the so-called "5+5" group -- Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia -- and the first since the outbreak of war in Iraq on March 20.

"France is particularly attached to this informal forum for political dialogue between the two coasts of the western Mediterranean," foreign ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau told reporters on Tuesday.

Other than the ongoing US-led war to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the foreign ministers gathering in the southern resort town of Sainte-Maxime are likely to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Rivasseau noted.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin will chair the meeting, set to begin at 7:30 pm (1530 GMT) Wednesday and wrap up the next day at about 3:30 pm (1330 GMT).

SPACE.WIRE