Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his Yugoslav counterpart Slobodan Milosevic are hoping for a "strategic cooperation" between the two sanctions-hit countries that "reject hostile US policy".
"Presidents Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic want a long-term strategic cooperation between Iraq and Yugoslavia," Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Taha Yassin Ramadan told the official INA news agency late Wednesday.
"Iraq is determined to pursue its cooperation with Yugoslavia, conforming to the principles common to the two countries that reject hostile US policy," Ramadan said.
Yugoslavia's Trade Minister Borislav Vugovic is in Baghdad heading a delegation of some 60 businessmen and officials from the defense, finance, trade and agriculture ministries looking to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
Iraq, the target of nearly daily bombings as US and British warplanes enforce no-fly zones in the country's north and south, strongly supported Yugoslavia during the NATO air campaign against it last year.
Baghdad and Belgrade had strong economic relations before 1990, with more than 50,000 Yugoslav technicians and other experts working in Iraq -- BAGHDAD (AFP)
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