“Ｉ Ａｍ ａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄ ｏｆ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ Ｐｅｏｐｌｅ Ｆｏｒｅｖｅｒ”

As we were walking into the meeting hall of No. 18 Building at the Diaoyutai State Guest House on the morning of June 22， an old man with a benign smile on his face rose from the sofa to greet us. He was Jalal Talabani， president of Iraq who was on an official visit to China. He was going to meet with Tomur Dawamat， president of the China-Arab Friendship Association (CAFA) and CAFA council members there that day. Being the deputy secretary general of the CAFA， I would be present at the meeting and had the honour to meet President Talabani for the second time.

The first time I met President Talabani was on August 6， 2003. He was then chairman of the Iraqi Interim Governing Council visiting China at the invitation of the CPAFFC. I still remember that during the banquet given by CPAFFC President Chen Haosu， Chairman Talabani happily recalled his first visit to China in 1955， which， he said， had left an unforgettable impression on him. From then on， he has been following closely what’s happening in China and rejoiced at China’s every achievement. To increase the Iraqi and Kurdish people’s understanding of China， he opened a book store in Baghdad， selling books on China. He wrote many articles about China for magazines and translated Selected Works of Mao Zedong into Kurdish. At the banquet he recited many quotations from Chairman Mao， making us gasp in admiration. Even senior comrades present had to admit that they could not do better， not to mention young people like me. Talabani said that the Iraqi people and the Kurdish people cherished very friendly sentiments towards the Chinese people and that he believed such friendship would be further consolidated and develop in the new period， for which he himself would make unremitting efforts.

Four years had elapsed before Talabani visited China again. This time he came as the first head of state of Iraq ever to visit the country since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Iraq 49 years ago. He said during the meeting with CAFA President Tomur Dawamat that his visit was very important， for he and President Hu Jintao had held very successful talks， and that it let the Iraqi people realize the importance of further strengthening friendly relations with China. President Talabani thanked the CPAFFC and the CAFA for the significant contributions they had made to promoting the friendly and cooperative relations between the people of China and Arab countries including Iraq. He said， the Iraqi Government attaches great importance to the work of people-to-people friendship. In 1958 when the two countries had just established diplomatic relations， the Iraq-China Friendship Association (ICFA) was founded in Iraq， and he himself was one of the founding members. The reorganization of the ICFA will be carried out soon and its members will include representatives of all ethnic groups and all parties. The ICFA will send a delegation to attend the Second China-Arab Friendship Conference in Syria next year. He expressed the hope that the Third China-Arab Friendship Conference would be held in Iraq. At the end of the meeting， President Talabani said to all present: “52 years ago when I visited China， I was in my prime， and today I am an old man of 74. I am an old as well as a new friend of the Chinese people. I will remain so forever.”