Iraq taps KL over plan

Iraq taps KL over plan

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Visiting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz tapped Malaysia on Thursday for ideas to support Baghdad's plan to set up an upper house of parliament.

Aziz met Malaysia's speaker of parliament Zahir Ismail for a briefing on the Southeast Asian nation's two-assembly legislature ahead of Iraq's general elections in March.

Aziz arrived on Tuesday for a four-day visit, aimed mainly at lobbying for Malaysia's opposition to United Nations trade sanctions on Iraq since the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

Malaysia's lower house of parliament debates bills before they become law and the upper house, or senate, endorses them before they are signed by the king.

Iraq will hold general elections in March to choose a new 250- seat parliament, which is expected to sit in April. Baghdad sees the elections as a step on the path of democracy and establishment of a multi-party system, officials said.