US, Iranian experts meet at Iraq conference

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 4 (Reuters) Iran and the United States met at expert level on the sidelines of an international conference in Egypt today, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said.

''A meeting took place on the sidelines of the meeting, not at foreign minister level but at expert level, between the American side and the Iranian side,'' he told a news conference.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had been open to a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki but the Iranian side was cool to the idea, diplomats said.

The Iraqi government, which depends on US military support but is close to Iran, favoured a meeting, they added.

Rice and Mottaki have been together in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for two days for the conference on financial support for Iraq and on relations with its neighbours.

Zebari added: ''I don't know what went on in that meeting (of experts) but I think it was a positive sign that at least such a thing did take place while we are here.

''This is a process I think. It needs more work. There is a lot of suspicion. There is a lot of mistrust. But it is in my country's interest really to see a reduction of this tension.'' Reuters KK VV1741