Russia slams ban on participation in reconstruction of Iraq

Updated April 04, 2003 22:12:00

Russia has reacted angrily to a US decision to bar Russian companies from taking part in US-funded reconstruction of Iraq, saying post-war Iraq was up to the United Nations and not the United States.

"The forms and standards of Iraqi reconstruction should not be decided by the US Congress, but by the United Nations," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov told a briefing in Beijing.

Fedotov was meeting with the press after two days of talks with the Chinese foreign ministry about the Iraq issue.

He spoke just hours after the US House of Representatives passed a supplementary budget amendment excluding Russia, France, Germany and Syria from taking part in US-funded reconstruction bids in Iraq.

The measure, motivated by the countries' opposition to the US-led war in Iraq, would even bar access by the four countries to information on reconstruction bids in Iraq.

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, iraq, russian-federation

First posted April 04, 2003 21:54:00