MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia denied on Wednesday Arab and Western media reports that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) was in the compound of its embassy in Baghdad.
"This type of statement is not in any way true," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told Russian state television.
"This is another attempt to place our embassy in Baghdad under threat," he said, in an apparent reference to protests on April 2 over U.S. strikes on Baghdad which Moscow said threatened the lives of its diplomats.
Russia has also blamed the United States for an incident -- still unexplained -- in which a convoy of Russian diplomats came under fire as it was leaving Baghdad.
Russia, which has long had close economic ties with Iraq (news - web sites), has consistently opposed the U.S.-led effort to topple Saddam.
Washington has accused Russian firms of selling Iraq banned military technology, including electronic jamming equipment and night vision goggles. Moscow denies the allegations.
