Iran and Iraq in top-level contact

The Iranian and Iraqi leaders are seeking closer ties

By Middle East correspondent Frank Gardner

Iran's President, Mohammad Khatami, has met one of the most senior Iraqi leaders since the two countries went to war 20 years ago.

President Khatami held talks in a guest palace in the Qatari capital Doha with Izzat Ibrahim, who is vice-chairman of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council and considered to be President Saddam Hussein's number two.

President Khatami: patience is needed

Few details have emerged from the meeting, which was attended by both the Iraqi and Iranian foreign ministers.

But afterwards President Khatami was quoted as saying that Iran was willing to witness a new chapter in bilateral relations.

An Iranian official quoted President Khatami as saying that patience was needed in normalising those relations but if they settled their differences then economic prosperity would be possible.

Armed groups

There is still a degree of mutual suspicion between Iran and Iraq 12 years after they ended a disastrous eight-year war.

An Iran-based opposition group was blamed for this attack

Armed opposition groups from both countries are hiding on either side of each other's borders.

Small explosions in Baghdad and Tehran have been blamed on these groups, which have little support among the wider populations of each country.

Iran and Iraq have also yet to complete their exchange of the last remaining prisoners of war and there is some dispute over war reparations.

Growing power

But the leaders of both countries are clearly trying to overcome these obstacles as they emerge from years of US-imposed isolation.

They were once the most powerful countries in the Gulf and with high oil revenues now pouring in they could soon be again.

They share a determination to rid the region of western military forces.

Analysts say it is significant that at these high-level talks held in Qatar on Tuesday both countries stressed the need for more security co-operation.