Michael D. Higgins to visit Iraq next week

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday January 16, 2003 21:03 by LY

The Labour Party Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Deputy Michael D. Higgins will visit Iraq next week. The delegation will depart for Iraq next Wednesday and hopes to meet a number of political and non-Governmental representatives while there.

The Labour Party Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Deputy Michael D. Higgins will visit Iraq next week along with Fianna Fáil Senator, Micheal Kitt as part of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee delegation. The delegation will depart for Iraq next Wednesday and hopes to meet a number of political and non-Governmental representatives while there.

Deputy Higgins said that he hopes to meet political representatives from the Iraqi ministries of Health, Resources and Foreign Affairs. It is intended that the delegation will also have discussions with non-Governmental and aid agencies who are working in Iraq as well as those responsible for the UN weapons inspections.

“We also hope to visit Jordan to meet members of the Jordanian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss the threat of war in the region. In Iraq, we will seek an update on the impact that the economic sanctions are having on the Iraqi people, especially women and children”, he said.

“I have visited Iraq twice previously, prior to the Gulf War and also just over a year ago to assess political and economic conditions there”, he said.

Deputy Higgins emphasised the need for the assertion of the politics of diplomacy in what appeared to some as the inevitable build up towards war. He said the imposition of war in Iraq, which has already been weakened by sanctions and infrastructural damage would be catastrophic.

Michael D. Higgins said he and Senator Kitt would be reporting back to the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee about their first-hand experiences during the visit.