Iraq's Tareq Aziz to Visit MoscowIraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz is to visit Moscow next week for talks with senior officials, Russia"s Deputy Foreign Minister was quoted as saying on Friday.Interfax news agency quoted Vasily Sredin as saying that Aziz would first pass through Russia at the weekend on his way to meetings in Beijing. He will return to Moscow for talks with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on November 28-30. Sredin said discussions would focus on resolving Iraq"s problems with the international community, notably the lifting of U.N. sanctions, as well as the overall situation in the Gulf. Russia has played a major role in seeking the lifting of sanctions while trying to persuade Iraq"s authorities to cooperate with the United Nations in allowing inspectors to complete checks into whether it holds weapons of mass destruction. Russia is one of several countries to have sent aircraft to Baghdad carrying what officials say are humanitarian cargoes to help ordinary Iraqis suffering from the sanctions. Russia Renews Call for Lifting of Sanctions on IraqRussia on November 14 reiterated a call for the lifting of the decade-old United Nations sanctions on Iraq and urged the United States and Britain to cancel no-fly zones over Iraq."It is time to lift the sanctions and end the sufferings of the Iraqi people," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said here at a press conference. |
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