Iraq Releases 27 Iranian PrisonersPresident Saddam Hussein has ordered to free 27 Iranian prisoners for various crimes, signaling Iraq's good intention and willingness to tackle pending problems between the two neighboring countries, said an Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Thursday.Under the supervision of the International Committee of Red Cross, the prisoners have been transferred to the Iranian authorities across the border point of Al-Muntheriya, the spokesman said without elaborating. Bilateral relations between the two Gulf neighbors, devastated by a 1980-88 bloody war which claimed 1 million lives on both sides, have been improving in recent years. Both Iran and Iraq have expressed the desire to resolve outstanding problems left over from the war. The two countries, yet to sign a formal peace treaty ending the war, have to solve thorny issues, including the prisoners of war. Meanwhile, They also host opposition groups of each other. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan met in Venezuela last September on the sidelines of the second summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), where they pledged to strengthen relations. The Khatami-Ramadan meeting, the highest-level contact between the two countries since 1997, was followed by a visit to Iraq by Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi a month later. |
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