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The Chinese Foreign Ministry held a ceremony in Beijing Friday to award Chinese diplomats to Iraq for their outstanding performance prior to the Iraq war.
Zhang Weiqiu, Chinese Ambassador to Iraq, was granted a first class merit citation, and the other six diplomats were awarded second and third class merit citations.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing attended the ceremony, speaking highly of the diplomats' successful completion of their tasks in Iraq.
By March 17, before the war broke out, the embassy staff in Baghdad succeeded in evacuating all Chinese citizens from Iraq amid the tense atmosphere.
On March 18, Zhang Weiqiu and six fellow officials relocated to Jordan to continue their work, and returned to Beijing on May 22 after the work was completed.
In a post-ceremony interview, Zhang told Xinhua that the Chinese government hopes the Iraq issue will be resolved peacefully and the embassy in Iraq will be reopened as soon as conditions permit.
(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2003)
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