Steinmeier's Difficult Task

Steinmeier left Germany Thursday for a six-day trip to the Middle East. His first port-of-call is the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik, which is hosting an international conference on security in Iraq that will be attended by top diplomats, including US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Steinmeier's seventh trip the Middle East will also take him to the Palestinian territories and Israel, before he rounds off the tour in Riyadh, representing the EU at a meeting Tuesday with the Gulf Cooperation Council, which comprises Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

"Difficult circumstances"

Steinmeier's journey to the Middle East comes in the wake of deteriorating security situations in Iraq and the Palestinian-controlled areas.

In Berlin on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jäger said the foreign minister was well aware that the entire trip was being undertaken "under difficult circumstances."

The Sharm el-Sheik conference starting Thursday will kick off with the launch of the International Compact with Iraq (ICI), an initiative providing a framework for Iraq's security and economic development. A ministerial meeting of states neighboring Iraq is scheduled for Friday.

There will also be an informal meeting of the Middle East Quartet, comprising the European Union, the United States, the United Nations and Russia.

As current holder of the rotating presidency, Germany represents the EU, but is otherwise not expected to play a major role in the Sharm el-Sheik talks.

So far, Brussels has earmarked 13 billion euros ($17.7 billion) in aid to Iraq, but failed to provide any kind of peace plan. Observers say the EU is unlikely to push for any new solution to the conflict in Iraq other than offering additional financial aid.

Taking advantage of coffee breaks

Jäger admitted that Germany's expectations are muted.

"The conference should not be overburdened with expectations," he said the day before the meeting of 36 foreign ministers began. "But clearly, stabilizing Iraq is dependent on the active support of its neighboring countries as well as the international community."

According to Middle East expert Volker Perthes from the German Foundation for Science and Politics, the conference might at least provide an opportunity for a few ad-hoc meetings.

"We assume there will be at least an indirect bilateral meeting between the US secretary of state and her Iranian and Syrian counterparts," he said. "This will take place as part of multi-lateral talks on Iraq. But even coffee breaks are an opportunity to exchange opinions, and I think the participants will make the most of them."

Neutral mediator

Any results from Middle East quartet talks will be presented by Steinmeier on the next leg of his trip, when he meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but conspicuously steers clear of any government members who belong to Hamas.

In contrast to Germany's profile in the Iraq war, the country still maintains a leading role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and sees itself a neutral mediator between Arabs and Israelis.

Israel will be Steinmeier's next stop will after meeting Abbas. How much of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's attention the German minister receives is in doubt as the Israeli may have other matters on his mind. He has been under increasing pressure to resign over his handling of last summer's war against Lebanese guerrillas.

Steinmeier may also meet with his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni, a party heavyweight who has called on Olmert to quit and apparently has her own designs on the position.

"I told him that resignation would be the right thing for him to do," Livni has told reporters. "I haven't worked and am not working to topple the prime minister. But it is a decision he'll have to make."

Economic and political ties

In Riyadh, Steinmeier's main focus at a meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council will be on expanding political and economic ties between Europe and the Persian Gulf states, one of the EU's main suppliers of gas and oil. One topic on the agenda is bound to be the signing of a free trade agreement.

This has been in negotiation for the past there years, and is widely seen as a platform for engaging in a security and political dialogue which could give rise to a strategic partnership.