Thursday March 14, 6:37 PM
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HANOI, March 14 (Reuters) - Vietnam's Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh left Hanoi on Thursday for official visits to Iraq and India.
Binh was expected to stay in Baghdad until Sunday and then to visit India from Monday until Wednesday.
Vietnam has strong traditional ties with India although the countries are competitors in the world rice and pepper markets.
It also has close ties with Iraq, maintaining a trade relationship by supplying it with rice under the United Nations oil-for-food programme.
Vietnam supports an early end to the U.N. embargo on Iraq.
Vietnam's state oil firm Petrovietnam has been tipped in the past to sign a deal with Iraq to develop its Ammara oilfield at a total cost of $300 million once the embargo is lifted.
On Wednesday, the state-run Voice of Vietnam radio called U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's efforts to drum up support against Iraq a "brazen violation of Iraq's sovereignty and international law".