Iraq Wants U.S. to Compromise More on Security Deals

Zebari made clear that the Iraqi government is closely monitoring the U.S. election campaign and noted that none of the candidates is calling for "immediate disengagement." The campaign, he said, has also affected Arab willingness to increase involvement in Iraq.

Rice sent Assistant Secretary of State C. David Welch to each of the Gulf Cooperation Council states in recent weeks -- Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar -- to persuade them to invite Iraq to the Monday meeting. His argument was that the recent Basra offensive targeting Shiite militias proved that Maliki's government was without sectarian bias.

During Monday's closed-door meeting of Arab foreign ministers, according to a U.S. official traveling with Rice, Zebari was asked why Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the only regional head of state to have visited Baghdad since the 2003 U.S. invasion. Zebari, the official said, replied that he was "embarrassed" by that fact, but that Arab governments had not accepted any invitations.

The U.S. official expressed satisfaction that Zebari was physically embraced by Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal upon entering the conference room and invited to remain in the meeting for discussions on Lebanon and the Palestinian-Israeli situation. "If they thought he was an Iranian agent, he would never have been allowed," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Khalifa acknowledged after the session that "we had questions about the ambiguity about the situation in Iraq."

Khalifa called Iraq's inclusion at the meeting an "important development" and said that Baghdad would continue to be invited as "an anchor of this group."

In the interview, Zebari said that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have expressed interest in opening embassies but that none had made a definitive move.

"Really, we've removed all the excuses in terms of security and logistics," he said. "We've given them options outside the IZ," the International Zone, or Green Zone, where the U.S. Embassy and much of the Iraqi government is located. "Or, if they prefer inside the IZ, we have evacuated a number of villas for them."

But the real reason for their reluctance, he said, was "not technical, not logistical, not security . . . it is political." Some of the countries, he said, harbor unhappiness over the U.S. invasion, although "they didn't shed any tears over Saddam's departure." More recently, "they always complain that there is extended Iranian influence."

"Our argument with them is that you have to blame yourselves," Zebari said. "They [the Iranians] are there and you're not there. A majority of the Iraqi people want to see you standing with them, beside them."

Asked about U.S. accusations that Iran supplies weapons and training for Shiite militias, Zebari said his government had raised the subject privately with Iranian leaders. "There hasn't been any public statement," he acknowledged, "but in discussions, in face-to-face bilaterals with the Iranians, yes, we do raise it . . . very seriously.

"They don't deny it, to be honest with you," he said. Unlike the Syrians, the Iranians respond that "there could be violations, here and there."