( BBC ) - High-level talks have opened at the UN in New York on improving the economy, development and security of Iraq.
The meeting, co-chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki, brings together Iraq, its neighbours and major donor nations.
It is also focusing on how to bolster the UN presence in Iraq as called by a Security Council resolution in August.
The UN withdrew most of its staff in 2003 after a bomb killed its top envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21 others.
Delegates in New York are also discussing ways to stabilise the political situation and end sectarian strife.
Maliki's pledge
The talks began shortly after 1600 local time (2000 GMT) on Saturday.
Speaking after an earlier meeting with Mr Ban, Mr Maliki said his government would provide any necessary security for an expanded UN mission in the country.
"The security situation... has begun to develop tremendously, and the Baghdad of today is different from the Baghdad of yesterday," Mr Maliki was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
The UN is also being charged with helping to bring about talks between Iraq and other countries in the region.
Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are taking part in the talks, as is US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The August UN resolution underscored the shifting approach of the US administration to Iraq, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.
He says the US is desperate to reduce its military entanglement in Iraq, believing that regional countries have a role to play in reducing violence there.
Raising money for the reconstruction of Iraq and how to deal with the humanitarian crisis are other problems on the agenda.
There are more than two million Iraqi refugees who have fled the country, as well as two million who are displaced within Iraq.