BAGHDAD, March 10 (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Iraq must not be the place where other countries play out their differences and interfere in domestic affairs.

"We ... demand that regional or international states refrain from interfering or influencing the Iraqi state of affairs through supporting a certain sect, ethnicity or party," Maliki said in the written copy of a speech to delegates.

He was addressing a regional conference in Baghdad, including deputy foreign ministers and other mid-level officials from Iran, Syria and the United States.

Iraq called the meeting to enlist support to end violence four years after the U.S. invasion but it was also a rare opportunity for officials from Washington and Tehran to meet at a time of growing tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

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