Russian foreign minister holds a ME tour

The Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov left Moscow on Monday heading for the Middle East in a tour which will last for several days during which he will visit Iraq, Egypt, the Palestinians Territories, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Well-informed diplomatic sources in Moscow said that Ivanov will start his tour in visiting Baghdad where he intends to discuss the Russian initiatives which aim at maintaining stability in the condition surrounding Iraq.

The sources stressed that Ivanov will concentrate the main interest during his tour on the countries o the region on matters pertaining to the Middle East peace process and ensuring stability and security in the Gulf region.

However, Russian diplomats noted that Ivanov's current tour is the second made recently after he had made visits to the countries of the region coinciding with convening the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Doha, which is dedicated for the situation emerging in the Palestinian territories as well as with the session to be held by the Palestinian leadership which will discuss the question of establishing the Palestinian state.