Democratic US Congressman Nick Rahall is due to travel to Iraq later this week in hopes to meet with top officials there, possibly including President Saddam Hussein, his spokesman said Wednesday.
Rahall is scheduled to arrive in Baghdad Friday, and hopes to see officials, including Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, said Kent Keyser, the chief of staff for the representative from West Virginia.
"It's a humanitarian effort to survey the civilian population and the economic and medical health needs and to hopefully send a message that not all is war on the front," the spokesman said, adding that the goal is that "reason should prevail", according to AFP.
"Hopefully some peaceful solution to the situation could occur," he added, stressing that rhetoric had to be "cooled down for the moment."
However, many voices in Congress, including from Bush's Republican Party, have spoken out against the potential consequences of such action. Rahall "consulted with other members of Congress and got generally a favorable response," the spokesman conveyed.
Rahall is the first US lawmaker to go to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. He will be accompanied by four other Americans, including former Democratic senator James Abourezk. (Albawaba.com)
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