A meeting between the countries which neighbor Iraq, including Syria and Iran, has opened in Baghdad.

The countries' foreign ministers or their appointees are there, along with envoys from the UN Security Council.

The gathering, which follows one six months ago in the Iraqi capital, is also being attended by the Arab League and G8, which includes the US.

On the agenda are the large numbers of refugees, energy problems, and security issues, such as border controls.

The conference was opened by Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

He called upon the attendees to "work seriously towards the objectives that they had gathered for".

And he warned that the violence affecting Iraq was a threat to the region as a whole.

Chance for dialogue

The first conference was in Baghdad in March this year.

It provided Syria, Iran and the United States with the opportunity to meet informally and discuss Iraq.

The Baghdad conference was followed up in May by a similar high level gathering at the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

One outcome of that was the International Compact for Iraq - a UN sponsored, five-year national plan to help to consolidate peace, governance and reconstruction in Iraq.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari says that the conferences were essential for reducing regional tension and providing an opportunity for dialogue between Iraq's neighbors, especially Iran and Syria and other countries involved, like the United States.

"The meeting is very important to us," Mr Zebari told the AFP news agency at the opening of the latest talks. "Everyone is talking about reconciliation but Iraq also needs to reconcile with its neighbors."

Iran in a particular has been repeatedly accused by the US military of fomenting violence in Iraq through the funding, training and arming of militants in Iraq.

The US has also accused both Iran and Syria of failing to stop foreign fighters from crossing their borders into Iraq.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari