BEIJING, Aug 8: China has said the “legitimate interests” of foreign countries in Iraq should be safeguarded, in a veiled reference to contracts Chinese companies signed with the Saddam Hussein government.

State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan made the remark in Beijing while meeting Jalal Talabani, a leader of the Iraqi Kurds and a member of the interim Governing Council, the China Daily said on Friday.

“The legitimate interests of various countries in Iraq should be guaranteed,” Mr Tang, a former foreign minister, was quoted as saying.

Mr Tang also told his visitor China was ready to assume a “positive role” in the economic reconstruction of Iraq.

China was the second-largest arms supplier to Iraq in the 1980s and 1990s, accounting for 18 per cent of the country’s weapons imports, according to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think tank.

Chinese companies were engaged in extensive business with the former Iraqi government, but these deals now face an uncertain future following the change of guard in Baghdad.

The China National Petroleum Corp in June 1997 had signed a contract with Baghdad allowing the Chinese oil giant to develop the Al Ahdab oil field in southern Iraq, for instance.

But in May this year, Iraq’s oil minister was quoted as saying that the contract had been frozen.

An official with the Chinese oil company suggested no definitive decision had been made on the project.

“The issue is ongoing,” he said, declining to elaborate.

China Aviation Technology Import-Export Corp won a contract to sell meteorological satellite and surface observation equipment to Iraq before the invasion, according to the Heritage Foundation.

CATIC also received United Nations approval in July 2000 to sell fibre optic cables to Iraq worth two million dollars, the foundation said.

An official at CATIC’s West Asia and North Africa section, responsible for sales to Iraq, declined to comment.

Mr Talabani has previously remarked about the fate of contracts signed between foreign companies and the Saddam administration.

In May, he told French radio that all agreements signed by France with Iraq’s ousted government would be up for reconsideration, in a likely hint at lucrative oil deals signed in the 1990s with French oil companies.

His visit comes after ties between the two countries were thrown into months of limbo because of the former, Saddam-appointed ambassador’s refusal to leave Beijing, despite being recalled by the Governing Council.

Ambassador Muwaffaq al Ani’s departure was not announced until this week.

Mr Talabani, whose visit presumably was made possible after the ambassador left, heads the first Iraqi delegation to visit China after the invasion.

His visit appeared to have been arranged without the cooperation of Iraq’s embassy in Beijing.

“We don’t have any information about this delegation,” said an Iraqi embassy staffer.

During their talks, Mr Tang said China supports a settlement of the Iraq issue that relies on the Iraqi people.

“A new Iraqi regime should be established as soon as possible and should be universally representative,” he said.

“The political will and choice of the Iraqi people should be fully respected.”

China, one of the UN Security Council’s five permanent members, also believes effective UN participation would be conducive to the proper settlement of the Iraq issue, Mr Tang said. —AFP