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Iraq plans international, regional summits on its fate

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq will hold two crucial conferences on its dire situation, one to include the United Nations and Arab League, and the other to include only its neighboring nations, the Iraq Foreign Ministry announced Thursday.

The announcement came on the heels of the Iraq Study Group's report, which was released Wednesday in the United States and said "the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating." Emphasizing the need for urgent action, it called for a "New Diplomatic Offensive" to launch before the end of this year.

The more international of the two summits will be held in Baghdad within the next four months, according to the Foreign Ministry. Countries in the region will participate, as well as groups such as the Arab League and the United Nations. (Watch U.S. generals, officials say they fear regional war )

The other conference will be held early next year and will only include representatives of Iran, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey, the ministry said.

Iraqi officials also will hold a national reconciliation conference, to include political parties and forces in Iraq. That meeting is planned for this month.

The conferences were proposed Tuesday by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as part of a new push to foster national unity. He also announced a plan to reorganize his Cabinet . (Full story)

On Saturday, Abdul Aziz Hakim, a powerful Shiite leader who met with President Bush this week, rejected U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for an international summit on Iraq. He said that Iraqis, "not conferences outside Iraq," should solve his country's problems.

Anbar focus of violence

Seven of 12 U.S. troops killed in Iraq Wednesday and Thursday died in restive Anbar province, the military said Thursday.

Three U.S. soldiers and two Marines were killed in action Wednesday and another Marine died from "non-hostile causes," the military said.

Another soldier died Thursday from wounds suffered on Wednesday.

Five more soldiers were killed Wednesday in a roadside bomb attack on their vehicle in Kirkuk province.

The deaths brought the number of U.S. troops killed since the start of the Iraq war to 2,921 -- 31 in the first week of December. Seven civilians working for the military also have died.

President Bush, met Thursday in Washington with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his closest ally in the unpopular war. After the meeting, Bush acknowledged during a news conference: "I believe we need a new approach." (More on Bush-Blair meeting)

Other developments

CNN's Mike Mount, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Erin McLaughlin and Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report.

Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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