DUSHANBE, July 17, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- On sidelines of the 15th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on July 15-16, Tajik Foreign Ministers Hamrokhon Zarifi on July 15 held talks with Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abbawi and Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, information posted on Tajik MFA website yesterday afternoon said.

International and regional issues being of mutual interest were a major topic of those talks.

During his meeting with Labeed Abbawi, Zarifi informed the Iraqi official of events taking place in Tajikistan on occasion of the Year of Imam Azam announced in Tajikistan.

Iraqi deputy foreign minister noted that representatives of Iraq would participate in festive events dedicated to the Year of Imam Azam in Tajikistan.  Mr. Abbawi noted that representatives of Iraq were interested in participating at an international conference entitled “Heritage of Abu Hanifa and Its Significance for Dialogue between Civilizations” that would take place in Dushanbe from October 1-2 this year.

Zarifi’s talks with his Afghan counterpart, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, focused on bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Afghanistan as well as issues related to regional cooperation.  The sides pointed out the significance of the upcoming quadripartite meeting of heads of state of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia that is scheduled to take place in Dushanbe within the next few days, the MFA information department said.