Baghdad - Visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora and
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday agreed, among other
things, on the export of Iraqi crude oil to Lebanon during talks in
Baghdad.
Seniora arrived in the Iraqi capital amid tight security Wednesday
as the first Lebanese leader to visit the conflict-torn country in
two decades. He was accompanied by his deputy and several members of
his cabinet, including finance and foreign ministers, and an economic
delegation.
Al-Maliki told reporters at a news conference that discussions
with his counterpart had focused on the strengthening of diplomatic
ties and the cooperation in the fields of trade and oil.
'We have talks about trade exchange in different fields, including
providing the brotherly Lebanon with Iraqi oil, according to
agreements that the ministers of the two countries would have a role
in concluding them,' he said.
The two leaders also discussed the return of Lebanon's ambassador
to Iraq.
Lebanon, Seniora said, sought to implement the various trade
agreements that were being discussed in the bilateral talks, in the
coming weeks. Lebanon was also keen to conclude investments in the
Iraq's oil sector, he said.
Al-Maliki and Seniora also agreed to a joint role in rebuilding
and enhancing inter-Arab ties, Al-Maliki added.
Iraq regards Seniora visit as an important step towards rebuilding
relations with Lebanon. Baghdad is working to re-establish ties with
its neighbours in the wake of five years of bloodshed.
A domestic political shadow on Seniora's visit came when it
emerged that Lebanese Energy Minister Alain Tabourian boycotted the
trip to Baghdad in an apparent rift with Seniora. Tabourian is a
member of the Hezbollah party which is in opposition to Seniora.
Meanwhile, tensions between Sunni and Shiites in Iraq's northern
Diyala province remained high Wednesday, a day after US-led Iraqi
special forces carried out a raid on provincial government
headquarters.
Al-Maliki appointed his interior minister as head of committee
that will investigate Tuesday's crackdown, Voices of Iraq (VOI) news
agency reported Wednesday, quoting a senior Diyala official Awf
Rahoumi
Jawad al-Boulani and his team would study details of the
crackdown, including the raid on Diyala government headquarters in
Baquba.
The raid sparked clashes in which Diyala Governor Raad Rasheed
al-Mulla's secretary Abbas al-Tamimi was killed.
Al-Maliki had on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the
crackdown in which a number of Diyala officials were arrested,
including Hussein al-Zubeidi, who heads Diyala's security committee.
As part of the crackdown, US-led forces also arrested Diyala
University head Nizar al-Khazraji and clashed with university
security guards. Four people were killed in the clashes in the area
of the university in south-west of Baquba.
The Diyala government on Wednesday declared a three-day period of
mourning for al-Tamimi while the university closed its doors for the
day in protest of al-Kharzraji's arrest.
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