S. Korea lifts ban on travel to Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday said that his government will lift its ban on travel to Iraq, according to an Iraqi official source. “Myung-bak expressed his willingness to visit Iraq, where he had worked as the head of Hyundai Motor Company,” an official spokesperson for the Iraqi government, Ali al-Dabbagh, said in a press release received by IraqiNews.com news agency. The president indicated that the ban on business and tourist travel to Iraq will be lifted in light of the improvement in security conditions in the country, Dabbagh noted. “This will encourage Korean companies to have a role in Iraq,” Dabbagh added. Yesterday (Feb. 23), Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani arrived in the South Korean capital on a visit that aims to foster mutual cooperation between the two countries. Talabani is leading a high-ranking delegation that included several ministers, parliamentarians and company directors. Talabani, 76, is the first Iraqi president to visit South Korea since mutual diplomatic relations were established in 1989. SS (P) 1