Baghdad - Ten ministers of tourism from around the Middle East are due to meet in Baghdad next week to discuss boosting Arab tourism to Iraq, a Baghdad newspaper reported Saturday.

Tourism ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen would meet in Baghdad on Wednesday, an advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism told Baghdad's al-Sabbah newspaper.

The meeting would aim to "establish the need for the advancement and development of Iraq's tourism sector," Baha' al-Mayah told the daily.

He hailed the participation of so many regional ministers as "a show of support for the (Iraqi) government."

"It has been decades since Iraq received so many ministers at once," al-Mayah said. "This is a testament to the success of Iraq's foreign policy at all levels."(dpa)