Amman, 17 March (AKI) - A conference to discuss the situation facing Iraqi refugees will begin on Tuesday in the Jordanian capital Amman.

The conference will bring together various countries that are currently hosting Iraqi refugees to discuss their situation as well as technical and humanitarian issues that these refugees may be facing.

The meeting will also discuss the aid that the refugees have received so far and what they require for the future.

Besides Jordan, representatives from the governments of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt will be present at the conference as well as observers from Iran, Turkey, members of the G8 group of industrialised nations and the United Nations.

The conference will also examine how to manage the procedure for Iraqi refugees who would like to return home.

This meeting comes ahead of another one to be held in Kuwait by foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbouring countries in April.

Leaders from Iraq's neighbouring countries gathered last July when Syria and Jordan - the countries that host the largest number of Iraqi refugees - launched an appeal for immediate financial aid in order to provide basic services to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis living in these countries.

Jordan believes that it has cost the country about 1.6 billion dollars to support about 700,000 Iraqi refugees in the country, while Syria, which hosts 1.5 million Iraqis, has said that it has spent two billion dollars on the refugees over the last three years.