(28 May 2008)
1. Media waiting on tarmac of Stockholm-Arlanda airport, armed policeman
2. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt (left on screen) speaking to official
3. Long shot of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's plane landing
4. Swedish and Iraqi flags
5. Plane taxiing on tarmac
6. Armed policeman
7. Wide of plane on tarmac
8. Door of plane opening
9. Airport workers rolling out red carpet
10. Al-Maliki getting out of plane and walking down stairs with delegates
11. Swedish and Iraqi flags on car
12. Bildt and al-Maliki walking on tarmac, talking, Al-Maliki getting into car
13. Various of al-Maliki's convoy driving away
STORYLINE:
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived in Stockholm amid tight security on Wednesday ahead of a U.N. conference that will review the political and security progress in his country.
Al-Maliki is expected to push for debt relief at Thursday's gathering and demand that some countries cancel debt and war compensation dating back to Saddam Hussein's regime.
Iraq harbours at least 67 (b) billion US dollars in foreign debt - most of it owed to fellow Arab countries Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The Iraqi delegation also included ministers of foreign affairs, finance, planning and national dialogue.
Iraqi and U.S. officials attending the meeting outside Stockholm are likely to tout recent security gains in Iraq.
The gathering also will see pressure on Iraqi leaders to make similar movement on political goals, such as reconciliation among the country's Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds.
Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc pulled its members out of Iraq's 39-member Cabinet in August, saying it was not getting enough say in decision-making.
Sunni politicians have been negotiating a possible return, but said on Wednesday that they suspended talks due to a dispute over ministry posts.
Iraq's Sunni Arab minority has long felt it is being sidelined by the majority Shiites and the Kurds, who dominate the Iraqi parliament and al-Maliki's government.
The meeting in Sweden comes as the U.S. military says violence in Iraq has reached its lowest level in more than four years, following a series of crackdowns on Sunni and Shiite extremists.
Some 500 delegates from more than 90 countries are to attend the conference, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Police said eight different demonstrations were planned in the Stockholm area, including an anti-U.S. rally outside the conference centre in Upplands Vasby, about 15 miles (25 kilometres) north of the capital.
Officers from seven counties, the SAPO security police and a national anti-terror unit will be deployed during the conference.
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