Moscow Urges US to Clarify Request to Expel Iraqi Diplomats

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 22, 2003

Moscow Urges US to Clarify Request to Expel Iraqi Diplomats

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Saturday that Moscow had asked the United States to clarify its request for countries around the world to expel Iraqi diplomats.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Saturday that Moscow had asked the United States to clarify its request for countries around the world to expel Iraqi diplomats.

Ivanov called the request "strange" and suggested it was part of a US strategy to trample on existing oil contracts between Iraqand non-US companies, the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

"What threat could they (the diplomats) present for US security?" he said at a meeting of the non-governmental Foreign and DefensePolicy Council.

The request to expel diplomats and freeze Iraqi assets was "notmade by accident," he added.

Amid the US-led military assault on Iraq, Washington Thursday asked all countries that recognize and deal with the government inBaghdad to expel Iraqi diplomats and to freeze Iraqi assets for the use of a postwar government.

In response to the request, Ivanov said Iraq's Ambassador to Moscow was officially accredited and would continue his work as before.

The minister said that by expelling Iraqi diplomats, the UnitedStates would be saying that "everything before today was illegal, all contracts signed before are illegal, and legality begins with the arrival of a new administration, even a temporary one."

Since the late 1990s, Russian companies have signed with Iraq adozen contracts worth 600 million US dollars a year in profits. However, all these remain frozen as a result of the sanctions against Iraq.

Ivanov also warned that the United States would suffer damage from the war in Iraq more than it expected, even if it would win finally.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Iraq War Could Destabilize Other Regions, Says Putin

Russia, US Remain Partners Despite War in Iraq: Ivanov

Putin Calls for an Immediate End to US War on Iraq

The US Must Not Put Pressure On the UN ( 3 Messages)

Saddam Vows to Globalize War if Attacked ( 5 Messages)

China's Z11 Helicopters Get Green Light for Civilian Use ( 5 Messages)

New Premier Comes from Grass Roots ( 2 Messages)

China Hopes War can be Avoided: FM ( 3 Messages)