Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini flew to Iraq on Wednesday to hold meetings with officials in Baghdad and visit the town where Italy's troop contingent is based. Foreign Ministry spokesman Pasquale Terracciano said Fini was meeting with Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari in the Iraqi capital. The Italian Foreign Ministry said the meetings were aimed at building contacts with the new interim Iraqi government, formed following elections at the end of January. It was the first visit by an Italian minister to Baghdad since the U.S.-led war in Iraq in 2003.
