§ Mr. Newensasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement on the visit of a Minister in his Department to Iraq for the celebration of the twelfth anniversary of the advent to power of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party; and if he will indicate the issues discussed.
§ Mr. HurdI visited Baghdad from 16 to 18 July at the invitation of the Iraqi Government to attend the celebrations marking the twelfth anniversary of the Iraqi national day. While there I had a724W meeting with Dr. Sa'adoun Hammadi, the Iraqi Foreign Minister at which we discussed all aspects of our bilateral relations, including the cases of two British business men serving sentences of life imprisonment. We also exchanged views on regional and international issues which included the Arab/Israel problem and the North/South dialogue.