Iraq's neighbours urged to help stop foreign terrorists entering

IRAQ'S prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, yesterday called on his neighbours to help stop the infiltration of foreign terrorists into the country, as a series of attacks killed at least a dozen Iraqis and one United States soldier.

His appeal came the day after a senior US military official claimed the leaders of Iraq's most notorious terrorist group had recently held secret talks in neighbouring Syria, where they plotted the recent insurgent violence that has killed hundreds. It may have been attended by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq.

Mr al-Jaafari said: "There are infiltrations of non-Iraqis through the border to carry out sabotage activities. It's up to our geographical neighbours. We are keen to preserve relations between us and neighbouring countries, and these relations should be good."

He was speaking after talks with Robert Zoellick, the US deputy secretary of state, who arrived in Baghdad for meetings with the government.

Mr Zoellick said al-Zarqawi's aim was to divide Iraqi society. "Part of these attacks stem from the successes of the new government," he said. "The insurgents wanted to stop the elections and failed. The insurgents wanted to stop the formation of a new Iraqi government and they failed, so now they are trying to split the society.

"It's very clear this evil wants to destroy a democratic Iraq. These people will not be easy to counter because they commit suicide in a random way."

In the aftermath of the reported secret meeting of terrorists in Syria, Iraq has suffered one of its bloodiest periods since the US-led invasion two years ago.

Nearly 500 people have been killed since the country's new Shiite-dominated government was announced on 28 April.