Russia pledges assistance in rebuilding Iraq

Russia assured visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Mahmud Zebari on Saturday of comprehensive efforts in rebuilding Iraq, Interfax news agency reported.

Meeting with Zebari who arrived here earlier the day for a two-day working visit, Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov vowed that Moscow was ready "to render assistance, in close cooperation with the interim leadership of the country" in building a sovereign Iraqi state.

"We support the efforts of the interim Iraqi government to solve the difficult problems that the country is coming up against," Ivanov was quoted as saying.

Speaking at a press conference after talks with Zebari, RussianForeign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Russia's call for an international conference on Iraq, saying such mechanism would makean important contribution to stability in the war-torn country.

The conference "would help mobilize international assistance with the aim of support for the efforts of the Iraqi people for the postwar reorganization and rehabilitation of the country," said a Russian Foreign Ministry document released after the Saturday meetings.

Lavrov confirmed Russia's position on restructuring Iraq's debtto Russia within the framework of the Paris Club, saying experts from both sides would take preparatory steps on the issue.

President Vladimir Putin said last year that Russia in principle would be willing to write off more than half of Iraq's 8-billion-dollar debt to Moscow.

Lavrov also said that Russia is "positive" to a proposal by Iraq to have Iraqi people trained in Russia in various specializedfields.

Zebari said that Iraq is ready to discuss with Russia the ways to continue joint contracts previously signed between the two countries.

The Iraqi minister noted that both sides agreed to continue contacts to appoint a person responsible for further work on bilateral contracts, stressing that the Iraqi provisional government "is committed to all obligations ever taken by Iraq."

Russia strongly opposed the US-led war in Iraq last year and has been striving for greater economic interests in the post-war country.

Zebari's visit was the first trip by a senior Iraqi official since sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqi people last month.

Source: Xinhua