Tokyo, May 30: Japan said today it is lifting its economic sanctions against Iraq to remove the barriers which have restricted Japanese companies' activity in the country for 13 years, a government official said. The decision was in line with a UN Security Council resolution passed last week to end economic sanctions imposed on Iraq following its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
"We decided to lift our own sanctions against Iraq to keep in step with the international community," said an official of the ministry of economic trade and industry.
The ministry will officially lift bans on money transactions between the two countries tomorrow and on exports to Iraq on June 6, the official said. "As a result, obstacles that have restricted Japanese companies' activity in Iraq will be eventually removed," the official said.
Japan, however, plans to keep freezing assets related to the failed government of Saddam Hussein, the official said, adding that Tokyo would also maintain its control on cultural treasures illegally transferred from Iraq.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is expected to inform other world leaders of the decision during this year's Group of Eight (G-8) summit in Evian, France, scheduled to begin on tomorrow. The United States lifted most of its economic sanctions against Iraq on Tuesday. Bureau Report