61.   China accused the African nation of Sao Tome and Principe of betrayal Thursday for extending formal diplomatic recognition to its rival Taiwan.

62.   Egypt, which backed the coalition in the Gulf War, on Tuesday called on Iraq to make a formal recognition of Kuwaiti sovereignty.

63.   The policy recognises Beijing as the official representative of China and gives no formal recognition to Taiwan.

64.   Kozyrev was to arrive later Wednesday in Baghdad accompanied by Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, and would attend the formal recognition session, Posuvalyuk said.

65.   On the diplomatic front, attention is still focussed on Belgrade where Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic is expected within days to announce formal recognition of the borders of Bosnia.

66.   Reports from Baghdad indicated the Iraqi legislature was to hold an extraordinary session to discuss a possible formal recognition of Kuwait.

67.   Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday for talks on formal recognition, an issue which the Iraqi parliament was expected to debate on Thursday.

68.   Similarly, Taipei has previously broken ties with any country which switches formal recognition to Beijing.

69.   The Iraqi parliament is to meet Thursday, Baghdad Radio announced Wednesday as the country moved toward formal recognition of Kuwait.