Iraqi FM in China for highest-level visit by interim government

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041223/wl_afp/chinairaq.041223111825&cid=1512&ncid=1480

Snip...

Zebari is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Li Zhaoxing as well as Premier Wen Jiabao during the four-day visit, Iraqi embassy officials said.


He will also meet with Chinese businessmen, but diplomats said the trip, which follows a recent visit by Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Abbas Ghadbane, would focus on political ties rather than economic cooperation.


"This is a political visit, not focused on trade or economics," one Iraqi diplomat said. "It's a very important visit for the sake of our bilateral relations."


The two sides will discuss the situation in Iraq (news - web sites), Sino-Iraqi relations and other issues of common concern, the Chinese state media said.


Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi promised "transparent and competitive" elections next month in Iraq and predicted that "ballots will prove far more powerful than bullets," in a commentary published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.