saudi foreign minister visits iraq in first such trip for 27 years
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Saudi foreign minister visits Iraq in first such trip for 27 years

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Saudi foreign minister visits Iraq in first such trip for 27 years

Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir (L) meets with Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi
Abu Dhabi - ArabToday

Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir visited Baghdad for talks with his Iraqi counterpart and the prime minister on Saturday – the first trip by a foreign minister from Riyadh since 1990.
"It’s the hope of kingdom of Saudi Arabia to build excellent relations between the two brotherly countries," Mr Al Jubeir said after meeting Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi.
"There are also many shared interests from fighting extremism and terrorism or opportunities for investment and trade between the two countries."
Mr Al Abadi’s office said the two men "discussed cooperation in various fields, including the fight against the Daesh gangs".
The Saudi foreign minister also met his Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim Al Jaafari.
In his talks with Iraqi officials, Mr Al Jubeir said Riyadh planned to appoint a new ambassador to Baghdad, according to an Iraqi foreign ministry official.
After 25 years without a permanent envoy in Iraq, Saudi Arabia sent an ambassador, Thamer Al Sabhan, to Baghdad at the beginning of last year. But Mr Al Sabhan was forced to leave his post by Iraq less than a year later after he said Iran-backed Shiite militias in the country were exacerbating tensions with Sunni Arabs.
In his remarks following the talks with Mr Al Abadi, the Saudi foreign minister stated Riyadh’s willingness to help bridge the sectarian divide in Iraq.
"The kingdom stands at an equal distance from all Iraqi communities making up Iraq and supports the unity and stability of Iraq," he said.
Relations between Baghdad and Riyadh remained tense and very limited after 2003, as Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival, Iran, became an increasingly powerful military and political player in Iraq where Shiite Arabs make up the largest demographic. Shiite political factions do not uniformly support Iran’s influence, however.
Riyadh has mostly chosen to disengage from Iraq and has not had a significant influence among the country’s Sunni communities or political and insurgent groups – although Iraqi politicians and officials have routinely accused the kingdom of supporting extremists like ISIL.
Mr Al Abadi has supported attempts to improve relations with Riyadh since taking office in September 2014, months after ISIL overran large areas of Iraq and as Shiite militias backed by Iran grew in size and power. This growth came as the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) – a state-sponsored umbrella organisation made up of mostly Shiite militias – was formed and became key to pushing back the extremist group.
It is not clear what the motivations behind the moves to thaw bilateral relations are, or whether Mr Al Abadi or his allies hold out serious hopes that Arab Gulf states with their financial heft can play a positive role in Iraq and serve as a counterweight to Iranian influence.
Implying the United States is brokering the thawing of relations between Riyadh and Tehran, former Iraqi finance minister Hoshyar Zebari, who was sacked last year, said on social media: "Today’s visit to Baghdad by [the Saudi foreign minister] ... is an excellent move to normalise Iraq-Saudi relations. Thanks to our American friends."
Mr Al Jubeir’s trip came a week after Iranian president Hassan Rouhani made his first visit to Kuwait since taking office, in a stated bid to initiate a dialogue with the GCC and reduce tensions. That visit took place amid heightened fears of a military confrontation in the region, with the new US administration saying it will seek a policy of containing Iran, rather than trying to engage it as former president Barack Obama had sought to do.
Some observers of Arab Gulf-Iran relations also speculated Mr Rouhani’s trip may have been 
Days after Mr Rouhani’s trip, Mr Al Jubeir made strident remarks at the Munich Security Conference saying Iran and ISIL have a deal not to attack each other, and dismissing Tehran’s calls for talks with the GCC.
"How can one deal with a nation whose objective is to destroy us?" he said. "So until and unless Iran changes its behaviour, and changes its outlook ... it will be very difficult to deal with a country like this."

Source: The National

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

saudi foreign minister visits iraq in first such trip for 27 years saudi foreign minister visits iraq in first such trip for 27 years

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

saudi foreign minister visits iraq in first such trip for 27 years saudi foreign minister visits iraq in first such trip for 27 years

 



GMT 06:49 2012 Saturday ,01 September

Lamitta Frangieh on her \'Facebook Romance\'

GMT 08:26 2017 Wednesday ,08 February

Qatar spending $500m a week on World Cup projects

GMT 17:00 2017 Tuesday ,27 June

Saudi Arabia rebuts fake news on Turkey, Israel

GMT 10:31 2016 Monday ,12 December

Second Sydney airport cleared for take off

GMT 05:27 2017 Sunday ,16 April

GIB Capital wins 4 EMEA Finance Awards

GMT 13:58 2016 Friday ,30 December

Australia beat Pakistan to win Test series

GMT 10:07 2017 Monday ,17 April

Mark Hamill would like to play George Lucas

GMT 12:10 2016 Tuesday ,13 December

Over 30 dead as Kenya tanker crashes, explodes

GMT 02:13 2017 Monday ,25 September

December22nd-January20th

GMT 15:39 2017 Tuesday ,03 October

Bangladesh rescues 20 Rohingya held by racket gang

GMT 02:51 2017 Friday ,10 November

Under siege, Syria doctors forced to improvise care

GMT 12:18 2015 Tuesday ,14 July

Russia sack Capello as national team coach

GMT 16:07 2017 Saturday ,26 August

ISIS Claims Attack on Shiite Mosque in Afghanistan

GMT 13:47 2017 Monday ,27 February

China blue chips post worst day in 2 months

GMT 02:56 2017 Tuesday ,25 July

President Jokowi performs Eid Prayers in Padang

GMT 16:21 2017 Tuesday ,03 October

Sisi greets Guinea on independence anniversary

GMT 04:18 2017 Saturday ,16 September

Kim and Kanye expecting third baby via surrogate
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday