KUWAIT CITY (AP) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is trying to persuade his Arab neighbors in a meeting in Kuwait that his country has ""passed the crisis"" and is much better off than a year ago.

Al-Maliki told delegates at the conference's opening Tuesday that Iraq ""has entered a new phase"" and has ""prevailed over factional disputes.""
A copy of the conference's draft resolution calls for increased help from Iraq's neighbors in fighting militias and ""assistance in solving the issue of Iraqi debts.""
Iraq's Arab neighbors have made similar pledges at two previous such meetings in the past year, with little follow-through.
A meeting yesterday in Bahrain focused on trying to blunt Arab states' fears over Iranian influence in Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was attending both meetings, is urging Iraq's neighbors to open embassies in Baghdad.