Yemen and Iraq signed an agreement on Tuesday, August 21, to set up a free trade zone, during a visit to Sanaa by Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, an official said.
Ramadan, who later left Sanaa for Damascus, signed the accord with Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul Qadir Bajammal following a meeting of the Iraqi-Yemen joint commission.
Bajammal said Monday that a free trade agreement would broaden cooperation between the two countries and be part of wider efforts to create an Arab common market.
In a joint statement, Yemen called for a "lifting of the unjust embargo imposed on Iraq and putting a halt to the aggression it is suffering."
The two countries also reiterated their "total support for the Palestinian people in their struggle to liberate their territory and establish an independent state."
Iraq, which has been under an UN embargo since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, has signed free trade deals with Syria, Egypt and Tunisia, and is considering similar agreements with Jordan and Morocco.
Yemen, which had been accused of taking a pro-Iraqi stance during the 1991 Gulf war, has since improved its relations with Kuwait and the other Gulf countries. ― (AFP, Sanaa)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
