Foreign ministers of countries bordering Iraq plus Egypt and Bahrain called for US and British forces to pull out of Iraq and for the speedy formation of a representative government in Baghdad. At the close of a meeting in the Saudi capital of Riyadh to discuss the aftermath of the US ouster of Saddam Hussein, the ministers underlined the need to uphold Iraq's territorial integrity and called for a "central" UN role in post-war Iraq.

They also took issue with US claims that Syria was, among others, providing a safe haven to officials of the deposed Iraqi regime and backed a Syrian proposal -- essentially directed at Israel's suspected nuclear arsenal -- to turn the Middle East into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq's neighbors "underlined the obligation of the occupying powers under the Fourth Geneva Convention to ... withdraw from Iraq and allow the Iraqis to exercise their right to self-determination," they said in a joint declaration in English read to reporters by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

The meeting, which started Friday and went on into the early hours of Saturday, was attended by the chief diplomats of host Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey and Syria, all neighbors of Iraq, in addition to Egypt and current Arab League chair Bahrain.

The ministers "affirmed that the Iraqi people should administer and govern their country by themselves, and any exploitation of their natural resources should be in conformity with the will of the legitimate Iraqi government and its people," the statement said in a reference to Iraq's oil wealth.

Stressing their commitment to Iraq's territorial integrity, the ministers said they also looked forward to the "early establishment of a broad-based and fully representative government in Iraq, in accordance with a constitution to be agreed upon."

Prince Saud later told reporters 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, which was engulfed by looting and chaos following the regime's downfall last week.

The eight officials said the United Nations should have a "central role ... in dealing with the situation in post-war Iraq," and voiced their governments' readiness to contribute to the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.

The ministers "expressed their countries' disagreement with allegations directed toward Syria," which has recently been accused by Washington of harboring both officials of the ousted regime and banned weapons smuggled from Iraq, and of producing chemical arms.

They backed Syria's initiative, through a draft resolution put to the UN Security Council, to turn the Middle East into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction and welcomed news that US Secretary of State Colin Powell planned to visit Damascus.

Despite the show of unity on post-Saddam Iraq, the foreign ministers were reported by Arab diplomats to have differed on some issues, an assessment substantiated by Egypt's Ahmad Maher when he said Friday that while the eight countries agreed on "essential points," there could be "divergent analyses" of the situation.

The 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.

Maher and a member of the Turkish delegation denied, however, that Turkey had raised the issue of Kirkuk oil during the meeting.

The diplomats said there were also differences between Syria and Iran on the one hand, and Kuwait on the other, over the presence of US troops in the Gulf region.

Syria and Iran have long opposed the US military presence, whereas Kuwait, liberated from Iraqi occupation by a US-led coalition in 1991, served as the springboard of the American and British troops that invaded Iraq a month ago and toppled Saddam

PHOTO CAPTION

L-R) Foreign Ministers Iranian Kamal Kharazi, Turkish Abdullah Gul, Syrian Faruq al-Sharaa and Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal, head to a meeting of foreign ministers of Iraq's six neighbours in Riyadh. (AFP/Bilal Qabalan)