By Stephen Brown ROME, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Group of Eight president Italy will host a conference in June on securing the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight the "spillover" of terrorism, drugs and organised crime, a senior Italian diplomat said on Tuesday. As well as its G8 partners, Italy plans to invite regional powers that can play a useful role in tackling problems which cross over into Iran and also into Russia's sphere of influence. But it is not yet clear whether Iran itself will be invited. The talks will be held in Trieste on June 27, a day after G8 foreign ministers from the United States, Russia, Britain, Italy, Germany, France, Canada and Japan meet there. Italy will invite countries with regional influence including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, said the diplomat. Sandro de Bernardin, political director of Italy's foreign ministry, said the "Afghanistan-Pakistan axis" was crucial in tackling terrorism. "When it comes to phenomena like drug trafficking and organised crime, the problem is not just limited to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border but it involves also other countries around Afghanistan," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. The Italian official said Russia was worried about "organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism spilling over from the Afghanistan border and passing through Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan". Regarding Iran's participation, the Italian diplomat said this was still a "work in progress". "Iran is a country which is particulary exposed to the spillover of troubles coming from Afghanistan and in our view Iran also has an interest in seeing an improvement in the situation," said de Bernardin. Italy was discussing Iran's presence with its G8 partners, he said. The West was now undergoing a "phase of changes" in its relationship with Tehran. U.S. President Barack Obama spoke in his first White House conference on Monday of possible diplomatic openings with Iran, marking a break with his predecessor George W. Bush. Iran in turn said it is ready for talks as long as they are "fair". Italy has historically been Iran's main trading partner in Europe but Rome's centre-right government, which is close to Israel, says it wants to see evidence that Iran is willing to play a "constructive role" before involving it in such talks.
Smoke billows into the sky off the coast of Dubai after two ships collided causing a fire February 10, 2009. An oil tanker on fire off the coast of Dubai was ...
Italy
