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IRAQI DIPLOMAT FAVORS U.S., IRAN, IRAQ CONTACTS(Interfax News Agency Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)MOSCOW. April 7 (Interfax) - Iraq has come out with an initiative to establish contacts in the United States - Iran - Iraq format to deal with the Iraqi settlement, and Iraq believes such contacts could have a positive impact on the situation. "There is much talk of negotiations between the United States and Iran on Iraq. The initiative came from the Iraqi side. The main thing is to find forms and ways out, to sit down and have a dialogue," Iraqi ambassador to Russia Abdulkarim Hashim Mostafa said at a Friday news conference at the Interfax central office. Mostafa said that trilateral contacts could promote a settlement. He said that the United States understands that Iran could also play such a role. The ambassador admitted the influence Iran has on what is happening in Iraq. "There can also be such influence on the Iraqi side [on Iran]," he added. Mostafa reminded journalists that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had driven half a million people out of the country forbelonging to a different ethnic group. He said that during the Iran-Iraq war that lasted eight years, "Iran supported many movements in Iraq," and Iraq supported the opposition in Iran. |