Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri arrived in Beijing on Monday at the beginning of a three-day visit, the state Xinhua news agency said.
Beijing has not released any details of Sabri's itinerary, with Xinhua saying merely that he is visiting at the invitation of Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan to "exchange views on bilateral relations and other issues of common concern".
However, any talks are expected to deal with United States’ threats to launch a military campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime. A diplomatic source in Baghdad said earlier this month that Sabri was expected to review the US threats with China, as well as in Russia where he is expected to head to next.
China and Russia maintain good ties with Baghdad and are opposed to any strike on the sanctions-hit country. Earlier this month, Beijing welcomed Iraq’s recent invitation for the chief UN arms inspector to visit Baghdad for talks on resuming weapons inspections interrupted in 1998, calling it "a positive step".
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Moscow issued one of its strongest complaints yet against US plans to topple Saddam, with its foreign ministry saying US talk of military action "causes great concern to the world". (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
