U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said here on Thursday morning the meeting of the International Compact with Iraq was "a historic step" and " a beginning of a process not the end of itself."

Rice made the remarks at the ICI ministerial meeting, which was opened in this Egyptian Red Sea resort with attendance of some 60 nations and 12 regional and international organizations.

"The process (regarding the ICI) will grow and strengthen as more countries and organizations commit to support Iraq," Rice said.

The ICI implementation needs periodic consultations among all related parties to monitor and safeguard the Iraqi government in order to meet its commitments and benchmarks as well as to guarantee the inflow of aid pledged by donors, she said.

The ICI was initially launched on July 28, 2006, in the hope of creating "a permanent partnership between Iraq and the international community" to help Iraq in its reconstruction efforts and to pursue political, economic and social development over the next five years.

The initiative, with strong support from the U.S., looks like a type of five-year plan for Iraq, yet it is also based on economic, political and security commitments by the Iraqi government in the next five years.

The ICI is supposed to be chaired jointly by Iraq and the UN, with the support of the World Bank.

Source: Xinhua