Tunisia and Iraq have signed a free-trade accord during a visit to Tunis by Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan, Tunisian officials said on Friday, February 23.
Ramadan clinched the deal with Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghannouchi, officials said.
Tunisia's government has repeatedly called for a lifting of crippling sanctions imposed on Baghdad since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Ramadan and Ghannouchi said the agreement is part of a bid to establish a larger Arab free-trade zone, the TAP agency reported. Iraq has two similar agreements with Egypt and Syria.
Tunis and Baghdad are already linked by several commercial contracts under the UN oil-for-food program, which allows Iraq to obtain essential goods.
Ramadan left Tunis on Friday after a three-day visit, for an undisclosed destination. — (AFP, Tunis)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
