Russian FM to Visit Iraq for Talks on Iraqi-UN RelationsRussian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov will arrive in Baghdad Monday for talks on relations between Iraq and the United Nations, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported on Sunday.Ivanov is expected to discuss with Iraqi leaders and officials a proposal put forward by Russia on resolving the Iraqi-UN stalemate, INA said, without elaborating. He will also convey a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the official news agency said. Iraq has been in standoff with the UN by halting weapons inspections and rejecting the return of arms inspectors since December 1998 when the United States and Britain launched large-scale air strikes against Iraq. Russia, a key ally and the most important trade partner of Iraq, has called for the lifting of the decade-old UN sanctions on Iraq, triggered by its invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Under the relevant UN Security Council resolution, the sanctions can not be lifted until arms inspectors certify that Iraq has destroyed all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Iraq is part of Ivanov's Mideast tour, which will also take him to Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian self-rule areas, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait. |
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