Tariq Aziz settles in Jordan to avoid Security Council travel ban

ArabicNews.com has learned that Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi deputy prime minister, had arrived in Jordan in order to avoid Iraq for the present.

Iraqi authorities fear that if Aziz returned to Iraq now, he would be subject to a travel ban on Iraqi officials involved in obstructing weapons inspections called for by a UN Security Council resolution last week in response to the Iraqi eviction of American weapons inspectors. For this reason, it's expected that Aziz will remain outside Baghdad for the present, especially in Oman.

The sources expecting that Aziz will be able to visit Syria, marking the first time visit by a high-level Iraqi official to Damascus since the boycott between Baghdad and Damascus began in the 1980's.

Returning from Russia, Tariq Aziz arrived in Cairo where he'll meet with Esmat Abdel Meguid, secretary-general of the Arab League, and his senior assistants.