Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Amr Moussa in Cairo Monday stressed an urgent need to hold an Iraqi national reconciliation conference in Baghdad to ease daily violence and carnage.

The more violence aggravates in Iraq, the greater the exigency for this conference, Egypt's official MENA news agency quoted Moussa as saying, without giving the occasion when the AL chief made the remarks.

The veteran diplomat has earlier told Xinhua that the newly- installed Iraqi government would hold a national reconciliation meeting on June 20 with support of the AL.

Such a conference is certainly another good step in the right direction, said Moussa, who enjoyed popularity in the Arab world.

Meanwhile, Moussa told reporters that he was in contact with Iraqi leaders including President Jalal Talabani and new Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to prepare for the conference.

He expressed regret over increasing violence in Iraq, saying that the violence only "strengthened our resolution to hold the national reconciliation conference to achieve reconciliation among Iraqis".

The five permanent UN Security Council members -- China, France, UK, Russia and the United States -- were invited to participate in the conference as well as Turkey and Iran, according to Moussa.

Source: Xinhua