Iraqi politicians have saved a reconciliation conference in Cairo from collapse with compromise language saying all peoples have a right to resist, Sunni Arab politicians say.

On Monday, all parties to the three-day meeting called by the Cairo-based Arab League agreed to the formula: "Resistance is a legitimate right of all peoples", said Mezher al-Dulaimi, a Sunni Muslim from the defiant west of Iraq.

Shaikh Emad Mohammed Ali, an official of the Sunni Muslim Iraqi People's Gathering, confirmed the agreement.

The participants in the conference went outside for a group photograph in the grounds of the Arab League headquarters, the venue for the meeting.

The Iraqi government, which depends on US military support, has opposed any language that could be interpreted as support for armed groups that are opposed to the US presence in Iraq and have been fighting to drive US-led troops out of the country.

Sunni Muslims opposed to the government have argued that US occupation is the root cause of the violence in Iraq and US troops should leave as soon as possible.

In the debate in Cairo, Iraqi government representatives conceded a theoretical right to resist occupation but said that as elected representatives of the people, the government had decided to end foreign occupation gradually as Iraq builds its own security forces to replace the foreign troops.

Timetable
meanwhile, in Al-Jazeera talk show recorded in Cairo on Monday, Hadi al-Amiri, chairman of the Badr Brigades, said the US withdrawal timetable depends of the security situation in Iraq.

PHOTO CAPTION

General view shows the opening of the three-day preparatory meeting of the Iraq reconciliation conference at the Arab league in Cairo November 19, 2005. (REUTERS)