Japan to extend $300 mil. in loans for upgrading Iraq refinery

Japan will extend up to 32.7 billion yen ($300 million) in low-interest loans to Iraq to assist the country's plan to upgrade one of its oil refineries, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein on Saturday.Motegi made the pledge during an unannounced trip to Baghdad, the first visit to Iraq by a Japanese foreign minister after Taro Aso in August 2006.Separately, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said a meeting has been set for Sunday between Motegi and new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, an anti-U.S. conservative hard-liner who took office this month, in Tehra…READ FULL ARTICLE