LATVIAN DEFENSE MINISTER VISITS IRAQ

Girts Valdis Kristovskis, accompanied by National Armed Forces commander Gaidis Andrejs Zeibots, the parliament's Defense and Interior Affairs Committee Chairman Arnolds Laksa, and ministry specialists began a four-day visit to Iraq on 2 November. The delegation passed on presents from the Defense Ministry to the 142 Latvian soldiers serving in peacekeeping operations in Iraq as part of the U.S. and Polish contingents. Kristovskis met with top officials from the Iraqi interim government and offered Latvian assistance in areas where it has experience, such as overcoming the consequences of a totalitarian regime, economic development, banking-sector development, and privatization. The Latvian delegation was asked by the Iraqi authorities to share its experience in establishing national armed forces from scratch.