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Iraq, Russia Call for Lifting No-Fly Zones Against Iraq
Iraq and Russia on Sunday condemned the airspace violations by the United States and Britain against Iraq, calling for lifting the no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq.
In a joint communique, Iraqi National Assembly (parliament) Speaker Saadoun Hamadi and visiting Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) Speaker Gennady Seleznev demanded the US and Britain to stop their patrolling over two no-fly zones, which are irrelevant to the United Nations resolutions.
The U.S. and British warplanes have been enforcing the two air exclusion zones since the 1991 Gulf War, with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from the forces of Iraqi government.
Iraq has firmly rejected the no-fly zones for their lack of UN authorization.
Earlier Sunday, Seleznev held talks with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and called for lifting the decade-old sanctions on Iraq.
Seleznev told the Iraqi president that the Russian parliament has been striving for the lifting of the sanctions on the Iraqi people, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
For his part, Saddam appreciated the Russian's pro-Iraqi stand, stressing that Iraq enjoys the support of 300 million Arab people.
"The United States can only exert pressure on a few Arab rulers, but not on the Arab people, " he was quoted by the INA as saying.
Seleznev has also held talks with senior Iraqi officials, including Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz.
Seleznev arrived in Baghdad by plane late Friday night for a visit, aiming to cement bilateral relations, especially parliamentary ties.
Seleznev was among the highest Russian officials to visit Iraq since the Gulf War, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Iraq has since been under stringent international sanctions.
Russia, a key ally and the largest trade partner of Iraq, has been calling for lifting the sanctions on Iraq and condemned the air raids against southern areas of the Iraqi capital by the US. and Britain on February 16.
There have been frequent exchange of official visits between the two countries. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov visited Baghdad in November last year and Iraqi Health Minister Umid Medhat Mubarak went to Moscow in January. Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan is expected to visit Russia soon.
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