¡¡¡¡NEW YORK, Sept. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- China said here on Thursday that the Iraqi issue should be resolved within the framework of the United Nations and that relevant UN Security Council resolutions should be abided by in an earnest manner.

¡¡¡¡The statement was made when Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, who is here to attend the 57th UN General Assembly session, met with foreign ministers of the European Union's "Troika."

¡¡¡¡The "Troika" foreign ministers include Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country holds the current EU presidency; Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country will serveas the next EU president; Javier Solana, secretary-general of the Council of the European Union and the EU's high representative forforeign policy; and EU Commissioner for External Relations Christopher Patten.

¡¡¡¡During the meeting, the "Troika" foreign ministers voiced theirappreciation of China's stance on the Iraqi issue and said they believe the current priority is the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq at an early date.

¡¡¡¡Iraq should abide by the relevant Security Council resolutions,and the international community, including the EU and China, should strengthen coordination and take a joint stand on the Iraqiissue, they said.

¡¡¡¡UN weapons inspectors have not been allowed to return to Iraq since December 1998, when they left on the eve of a joint US-British bombing raid as Baghdad allegedly did not cooperate with the UN inspectors in investigating its weapons of mass destruction.Enditem