BERLIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Germany's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday that he supported the idea of holding an international peace conference to help stem the violence in Iraq. "Priority must be given to the internal Iraqi reconciliation process. That is difficult enough. An Iraq conference with third parties participating can be a further, in my opinion entirely sensible step," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an interview with General-Anzeiger newspaper. "Even now Iraq is intensifying its relations with its neighbours," Steinmeier said in an advance copy of the interview, which will be published on Wednesday. Steinmeier did not name the "third parties". Berlin has repeatedly called on Iraq's neighbours Syria and Iran, which Washington accuses of supporting insurgents in Iraq and backing terrorism throughout the Middle East, to play a constructive role throughout the region. Germany holds the European Union's six-month rotating presidency and has vowed to try to get the Middle East peace process back on track. Berlin's position is that the region will not be stable until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved. In December, the bipartisan U.S. Iraq Study Group issued a report on the Iraq war in which it recommended that the United States hold direct talks with Damascus and Tehran to persuade them to stop interfering in Iraq. However, U.S. President George W. Bush reacted coolly to that proposal. The United States has no diplomatic relations with Iran. Earlier this year, French President Jacques Chirac raised the idea of an international Middle East peace conference to help restore stability to the region.
