"The presidential council ratified in its session on January 23 a law according to which the Republic of Iraq will join the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol," the statement said.

The Iraqis decided to join the pioneering, yet troubled pact almost two weeks after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was hailing legislative progress on another front. But the AFP report did not get specific on the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions Iraq would seek to cut.