BERLIN: Uncertainty over the future of the Middle East and the implications of the financial crisis in Europe loom large as top security and defense officials gather in Munich on Friday for a conference through the weekend. The Munich Security Conference, now in its 48th year, brings together officials from more than 70 countries expected to include US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. The conference is renowned as a setting where top officials are able to address policy issues in an informal setting. This year's gathering comes as Western diplomats try to overcome Russian objections to a UN Security Council resolution aimed at halting the violence in Syria. Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity because Thursday talks at the U.N. were private said the sticking point continued to be language that Western envoys interpret as support for an Arab League peace plan calling for Syrian President Bashar Assad to relinquish power, while Russia has said it will reject any resolution that can be interpreted as calling for regime change. Wider uncertainty over the direction of the Middle East after a year of turmoil will be addressed by officials such as the prime ministers of Qatar and Tunisia, and the foreign ministers of Egypt and Turkey. Conference organizer Wolfgang Ischinger said Iran is still a wild card. As of earlier this week, no delegation had been registered, but Tehran has often sent representatives at the last minute. Two years ago then-Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki showed up in an apparent attempt to deflect calls at the time from the U.S., Britain and France for more sanctions against Iran. Russia, China and India — three of Iran's biggest oil customers — may face calls this year at the conference to join an oil embargo agreed upon by the European Union last week, which is to go into effect in July. All three have so far indicated they will not participate in the embargo. The EU sanctions came just weeks after the U.S. approved, but has yet to enact, new sanctions targeting Iran's Central Bank and, by extension, its ability to sell its oil. They were the latest attempt to try to pressure Tehran over a nuclear program the United States and its allies argue is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for purely peaceful purposes. In addition to other traditional defense issues that will be taken up at the conference, a panel including World Bank President Robert Zoellick, Italian Premier Mario Monti and Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann is to look at the European financial crisis and its implications for international security. The gathering kicks off Friday with a discussion of host Germany's role in Europe and the world. Germany is the continent's key economic power but remains reluctant to flex its muscles as a military power. The conference comes on the heels of the Pentagon's announcement of American military cuts, including the decision to bring home two brigades stationed in Germany, and Ischinger said discussion of "smart defense — how to get more bang for the buck" — would also be on the agenda.
