GENEVA -- The annual gathering of the global political and economic elite at the World Economic Forum opens next Thursday in Davos under the shadow of a possible war in Iraq, a stuttering economic recovery, and exceptionally tight security.

"I cannot remember having the annual meeting taking place at such a special moment in time, of such complexity, fragility and vulnerability of the global situation," Klaus Schwab, president and founder of the 33 year-old event said.

The brainstorming session for political, business and academic leaders at the Swiss Alpine Resort from January 23 to 28 has the theme "Building Trust" this year.

The list of topics for some of the 270 seminars and meetings ranges from "Al-Qaeda - the missing pieces", through "the relationship between oil and conflict" to "the global economic outlook" and "the impact of AIDS".

During the meeting, the WEF wants to launch a 100-strong council aimed at soothing tensions and establishing permanent dialogue between Western and Islamic societies.

It is also promising a debate between the chief executives of top multinational accounting firms which were caught up in the collapse of the U.S. energy giant Enron and communications group WorldCom.

They will join a ream of corporate chiefs from multinationals such as Nestle, Shell, Microsoft, Nissan, Sony, Boeing or Coca Cola taking part in the meeting.

However, the organizers admit the traditional business slant of the WEF's annual meeting -- 60 percent of participants are from the corporate world -- is being overshadowed by the global geopolitical and economic situation this year.

The United Nations chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix is due present the first report on weapons inspections in Iraq on January 27 in New York, while U.S. President George Bush will give his annual "State of the Union" address a day later.

"We know that the imminence of conflict will be foremost on participants' minds," Jose Figueres, the WEF managing director told AFP reporters.

With the U.S. economy flagging, "there is also no clear global economic engine of growth to pull us out of the doldrums," he added.