Iraq should completely implement United Nations resolutions, enacted as a result of the 1991 Gulf War, to return relations between Japan and Iraq to what they were before the conflict, a senior Foreign Ministry official told a special envoy from Iraq on Mar. 19, according to ministry officials.
Seiichiro Noboru, director general of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, told Abdul-Amir al-Anbari, Iraq's special envoy, that Japan hopes to re-establish cooperative relations with Baghdad because Iraq is an important country in the Middle East, according to the officials. Noboru added that Iraq's efforts to become accepted once again by the international community are crucial to improving bilateral relations, the officials said.
Anbari said Iraq hopes to resolve problems concerning the implementation of U.N. Resolution 687, which demands the destruction of all Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, the officials said. Meanwhile, Anbari expressed dissatisfaction with delays in the delivery of humanitarian aid, including food, in return for oil sales by Iraq under the monitoring of the U.N., the officials said.