Egypt and Iraq Saturday highlighted the importance of an upcoming Baghdad meeting of Iraq's neighboring countries scheduled on March 10.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and his visiting Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari voiced the importance at a joint press conference following their talks earlier in the day.

Abul Gheit told the reporters that the upcoming Baghdad meeting is expected to project Iraq's commitment to national unity, adding that interference of some neighbors in Iraq's domestic affairs is definitely among topics tabled on the agenda of the meeting.

Talking on his meeting with Zebari, he noted that they dealt with the agenda and objectives of the Baghdad meeting and the upcoming Arab summit to be held in Saudi Arabia in late March.

The Egyptian top diplomat expressed hope that the Baghdad meeting would be a success in order to achieve the Iraqi and Arab objective.

For his part, Zebari said he believes that the Baghdad meeting will be a good turning point to defuse escalating regional tensions.

On Tuesday, the Iraqi government formally invited UN Security Council's five permanent members of the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France to take part in the March 10 Baghdad meeting, along with Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey.

Source: Xinhua