Chinese Foreign minister Li Zhaoxing (L) talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prior to an international conference on Iraq in Brussels June 22, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (L) talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana at the European Council headquarters prior to an international conference on Iraq in Brussels June 22, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari arrives at the European Union (EU) headquarters for an international conference on Iraq in Brussels June 22, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

From left to right, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the International Conference on Iraq held in Brussels June 22, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

    BRUSSELS, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The International Conference on Iraq, co-hosted by the European Union (EU) and the United States, opened here Wednesday morning.

    Over 80 senior officials including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan participated in the meeting to discuss how to better help rebuild the violence-stricken country.

    In opening remarks to the one-day session, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn and Kofi Annan called on the international community to continue their efforts to assist the country.

    They all stressed three factors related to Iraq: the political process, economic reconstruction and rule of law.

    Rice called on Iraq's government to boost security and open itspolitical system and economy.

    "We have agreed to work together to build a renewed international partnership with Iraq," she said while noting that "Iraq, in turn, has obligations of its own."

    "To maximize the financial benefits of assistance, the new Iraqi government must continue to improve security, liberalize its economy and open political space for all members of Iraqi society who reject violence," Rice added.

    Asselborn, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, reiterated that a "truly central role" for the United Nations is needed in Iraq.

    "We call .. with all our wishes for a strengthening of the universal organization of the United Nations," he said.

    "The legitimacy which this body embodies, its impartiality and its expertise, are all the more reason to justify a truly central role," he added.

    For his part, Annan said: "the United Nations will continue to implement our mandate to the fullest extent possible, and we are delivering."

    "We are giving concrete assistance to the constitution-making process, and we are supporting institutional capacity-building and coordinating donor assistance," he added.

    An Iraqi delegation headed by Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari attended the gathering, the first such conference attended by the interim government elected in Iraq's landmark elections in January.  Enditem