BAGHDAD: The Iraqi government pressed for advanced French weapons Sunday, while France's top diplomat said French companies were private and free to make their own decisions about whether to do business in wartorn Iraq. In a meeting with visiting Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "expressed Iraq's desire to supply its armed forces with advanced French weapons," according to a statement from his Baghdad office. Kouchner, on a two-day trip to Iraq, said afterward that he supported increased cooperation between the two countries but could not force French companies to invest in Iraq. "Unfortunately, French companies are private ones," Kouchner told reporters in Baghdad.
BAGHDAD: The Iraqi government pressed for advanced French weapons Sunday, while France's top diplomat said French companies were private and free to make their own decisions about whether to do business in wartorn Iraq.
In a meeting with visiting Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "expressed Iraq's desire to supply its armed forces with advanced French weapons," according to a statement from his Baghdad office.
Kouchner, on a two-day trip to Iraq, said afterward that he supported increased cooperation between the two countries but could not force French companies to invest in Iraq.
"Unfortunately, French companies are private ones," Kouchner told reporters in Baghdad.
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