Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan is heading Iraq's delegation to the OPEC summit in Caracas, the official INA news agency announced Monday as they departed.
"Iraq ... is concerned about participating in the meeting to consecrate the organization's cohesion and reject pressure from colonialist countries, notably the United States," Ramadan said, quoted by INA.
"The United States is conspiring and carrying out plots aimed at harming the interests of the region and its peoples," he added.
Iraq's delegation to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries conference includes Oil Minister Amer Rashid and Foreign Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf.President Saddam Hussein has not left Iraq since 1990 for security reasons.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse.
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
