"It is obvious that the active phase of military operations is coming to an end. We want the United Nations to be given the complex task of rebuilding this country after the war," foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh said.

The Belarus leadership has strongly opposed the US-led war on Iraq and maintained close ties with Baghdad, although President Alexander Lukashenko has denied US accusations that it sold military equipment to Saddam's regime.

SPACE.WIRE