Iraq and Yemen have decided to establish regular air links between their capitals starting in the "next few days," Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Wednesday, August 22.
"An agreement was reached between Iraq and Yemen to establish in the next few days a regular service between Saana and Baghdad," said Ramadan, cited by the official INA news agency. He said "Yemenia (the national airline) will start serving Baghdad in the next days."
The Iraqi vice president, who recently visited Saana, said the two countries have also agreed to expand their trade ties. When he returned from his visit on Tuesday, Ramadan announced that Iraq and Yemen had signed an agreement to set up a free trade zone, as part of wider efforts to create an Arab common market.
Iraq, which has been under an UN embargo since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, has signed free trade deals with Syria, Egypt and Tunisia, and is considering similar agreements with Jordan and Morocco.
Yemen, which had been accused of taking a pro-Iraqi stance during the 1991 Gulf war, has since improved its relations with Kuwait and the other Gulf countries. ― (AFP, Baghdad)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
