"The meeting will be a step to demonstrate that the opposition is present on the ground in Iraq and that the (US-led) coalition deals with all parties without favoring any side," Ghassan al-Atiyyah told AFP from London.

Atiyyah, who had announced the meeting at a news conference in the British capital Tuesday, said the precise date and venue were open to change, and the gathering was not meant to be "the main proposed conference that will discuss the future" of post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

"After some opposition leaders went to Nasiriyah, the coalition wanted to include others" in the process of asserting the opposition's presence on the ground, he said.

Atiyyah, an independent member of a 65-strong committee formed by major opposition groups in London last December, was referring to Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader Chalabi, who left Kurdish-held northern Iraq for Nasiriyah over the weekend in a move that took other dissident factions by surprise.

Chalabi's presence in Nasiriyah was announced on Sunday by the INC, which also said it had sent 700 fighters to southern Iraq to "assist coalition forces in defeating the remaining Baathist and pro-Saddam elements" as well as help deliver humanitarian aid and maintain law and order.

The US military said later Sunday it had begun flying Iraqi opposition fighters from northern to southern Iraq to join in the war to topple President Saddam Hussein.

"These are Iraqi citizens who want to fight for a free Iraq, who will become basically the core of the new Iraqi army once Iraq is free," General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC television.

Chalabi, who enjoys strong backing from the Pentagon, has since been filmed in the Nasiriyah area, apparently irking rival opposition figures who fear the United States may give him the leading role in post-war Iraq.

Atiyyah said the list of participants in Saturday's meeting was still not finalized and it was possible the gathering would be delayed for a few days to allow more time for preparations.

The venue could also be shifted, possibly to the main southern city of Basra, he said.

Representatives of some exiled opposition parties attended Tuesday's news conference at which the meeting was announced.

But the major Shiite opposition group, the Tehran-based Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), was not on hand, and its representative in London told AFP Wednesday he did not have details about the proposed gathering.

At this point, the decision of SAIRI's leadership in Tehran is to stay away from the meeting, Hamed al-Bayati said by telephone.

In any case, he said, SAIRI would have no part in any meeting that is intended to name an "advisory council" to retired US general Jay Garner, who is now in Kuwait putting together the civil administration he is expected to head in post-war Iraq.

Participants in the planned meeting were expected to reach southern Iraq via Kuwait, except for any who could be flown in from northern Iraq.

SPACE.WIRE