Isn't it a bad sign when our ambassador doesn't know

There has been a meeting arranged with Iran?

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- U.S.-Iranian talks about Iraq's security will begin on May 28, Iran's foreign minister said Thursday, keeping up Tehran's call for foreign troops to leave Iraq.

Manouchehr Mottaki said the negotiations would be exclusively about Iraq and that a first meeting in the presence of Iraqi officials would try to set a more detailed agenda.

"Nothing but Iraq is on the agenda," he told reporters in Islamabad, where he has been attending a ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

In Baghdad, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker appeared unaware of Mottaki's announcement, saying only that he hoped the talks would take place by the end of the month.

"I'm ready to sit down anytime they like," Crocker, who is to lead the U.S. delegation, told reporters.

With something so important, I'd like to see a bit more involvement by the Bush administration. But then, we all know how much Bush is with diplomacy and having to actually talk to someone rather than shock'n'awe them....