Iran pledges $1 bln loan, security help to Iraq
23 Nov 2005 - 13:49:54 GMT
Source: Reuters
TEHRAN, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Iran has pledged to give Iraq a $1 billion loan and help with tackling insecurity, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said at the end of a ground-breaking visit to the Islamic state.
Talabani's three-day visit, the first by an Iraqi leader to Iran for nearly four decades, followed heightened accusations by Western and some Iraqi officials that Shi'ite Muslim Iran was linked to insurgent attacks in Iraq. Iran denies the charges.
Talabani, as he did in his public comments throughout his stay in Iran, stressed the improving political and commercial ties between two countries which fought a bitter 1980-1988 war in which hundreds of thousands died.
"All the officials I met said there are no limits to Iran's support for the Iraqi nation," he told reporters.
"Iranian officials openly said they want the establishment of security in Iraq ... They said: 'your security is our security'," he said.
Talabani added that Iran had pledged to give Iraq a $1 billion loan and $10 million in aid to help with reconstruction efforts. He gave no details and Iranian officials could not immediately be reached to elaborate.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23550883.htm
AlertNet news