Iraqi opposition holds major forum

Iraqi opposition leaders are gathering in London for what is being billed as the broadest anti-Saddam Hussein conference for a decade.

More than 300 delegates from 50 parties have been invited to map out a vision for Iraq after President Saddam Hussein has gone.

Washington has put heavy pressure on the dissidents to unite before any military campaign in Iraq, but it still took three months to convene the conference.

President Bush's new envoy for what he calls free Iraqis, Zalmay Khalilzad, is due to attend.

A BBC correspondent says the opposition has lived up to its reputation for divisiveness in the run-up to the meeting, with individual delegates and party representatives swapping accusations that their rivals have been given too much prominence.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service