Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko announced on 13 April that Russia will not comply with U.S. requests to close down the Iraqi Embassy in Moscow and to expel Iraqi Ambassador to Russia Abbas Khalaf. Russia has had diplomatic relations with Iraq since the 1940s despite a number of regime changes there. Yakovenko said the Iraqi people themselves will decide on the composition of the country\'s diplomatic representation in Moscow. He added that Moscow does not consider the 6 April incident in which the motorcade of the Russian ambassador to Iraq was caught in crossfire outside Baghdad fully resolved yet. Moscow will seek compensation for material losses and damages in accordance with international law, Yakovenko said. (ITAR-TASS)