Iraq, Yugoslavia to Establish Strategic RelationsIraq and Yugoslavia have agreed to establish "strategic relations" between the two countries, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said on Wednesday.Presidents of both Iraq and Yugoslavia came to this agreement due to "joint aims and principles" in their struggle against the aggressive policy of the United States, Ramadan said. Ramadan made the remarks when he met visiting Yugoslav Foreign Trade Minister Borislav Vukovic on Wednesday, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. For his part, Vukovic expressed keenness to strengthen bilateral relations, the INA said. The Yugoslav minister, heading a 60-member delegation, arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad late Monday for a four-day visit of the country. He held talks with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammad Mehdi Salah on Tuesday and discussed ways of expanding bilateral trade ties. Iraq and Yugoslavia have been intensifying relations by frequently exchanging visits of senior officials. During his talks with visiting Yugoslav Vice President Dragan Tomichi in early March, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said Iraq stands firmly by the Yugoslav people in their struggle against the aggressions of the U.S. and its allies. Iraq is the first in the Arab world to condemn the aggressions by the U.S.-led Western air war against Yugoslavia last year, Saddam said. Yugoslavia has also voiced support to Iraq's confrontation with the U.S. and called for the lifting of the sanctions on Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. |
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