Russia calls for preserving unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and restoring the country's sovereignty in full upon completion of the military presence, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.

"I don't doubt that the final solution of the Iraqi problem is possible by reaching national reconciliation and accord, and taking into account the interests of all ethnic and confessional groups and influential political forces in the country," Putin said in a greetings message circulated by the Kremlin press service, addressed participants in a conference of the heads of state and government of the League of Arab States currently under way in Damascus.

The annual Arab summit kicked off in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Saturday with the participation of the member states of the Arab League (AL) except Lebanon.

The two-day summit is the 20th of its kind since the 22-member AL, formally called as the League of Arab States, was founded in 1945.

Only 11 heads of state, including President Bashar al-Assad of the host Syria, are present at the summit. It is the first time for Syria to host an Arab summit.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2008)