Iraqi vice president to brief Arab states on UN sanctions

Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yasin Ramadan launched an Arab tour beginning in Yemen where he met with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Ramadan stated that his country had already implemented all the U.N. Security Council's resolutions.

Then he called on all Arab states for solidarity to stand with Iraq and lift the economic sanctions against it, moreover he called on the U.N. Security Council to lift the sanctions, but he said, "We cannot believe that the agreement signed between Iraq and (UNSCOM chief) Richard Butler can lead to uplifting the siege from Iraq."

Then he denied that there are Kuwaiti captives in Iraq, saying that time will prove this fact and it will prove that Kuwait was aiming at prolonging the period of the sanctions.

Concerning the Arab summit, the Iraqi vice president said that his country needs a call to attend the Arab summit, confirming Iraq's readiness to open a new page with the countries of the world including the U.S. on the condition that it will not interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq.

He also said that there has been a start for normalizing relations with Iran since the beginning of the current year and accused the U.S. of being behind the reduction of petroleum prices in the world.

Ramadan said, "My tour aims at briefing the Arab countries on the recent developments in the situation between Iraq and about the recent agreement between Iraq and Richard Butler."