Several Arab leaders are set to discuss Syrian crisis, Somalia, Palestine and Yemen during their Thursday meeting in Baghdad.

President Sharif held talks with his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani in Baghdad a head of the summit and discussed range of issues including the bilateral relations between the two countries.

The host president Jalal Talabani assured president Sharif that his government will support the Somali government in ending Somalia problems. President Sharif and his entourage left Mogadishu on Wednesday afternoon to attend the summit.

Cabinet ministers including Foreign Affairs, Finance and several other TFG officials are among the president’s entourage attending the Baghdad summit.

Attending the summit are Sudan’s Omar Bashir, Tunisia’s Moncef Marouki, Libya’s NTC Head Mustafa Abdul Jalil, Somalia’s Shiekh Sharif Ahmed, Comoros’ Ikililou Dhoinine and the Head of Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. But many other Arab leaders have reportedly chosen not to attend.

The UN chief Ban Ki-moon is also attending the summit.

Security is extremely tight for the Baghdad summit and much of the city has been brought to a standstill for the summit, which is costing an estimated $500m (£314m) to stage, BBC reports.