UAE names ambassador to Iraq

TOP-LEVEL TALKS: Al-Maliki (pictured) met Sheikh Khalifa during a two-day visit to the UAE. (AFP)

The United Arab Emirates has named its ambassador to Iraq, as part of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's visit to the region, an official said on Sunday.

The UAE cabinet approved the appointment of its current ambassador to India, Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Shehhi, as its ambassador to Iraq. The Iraqi government has already approved the nomination, it was announced.

Al-Maliki met President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan and other officials during a two-day visit, which comes a month after a landmark trip to Iraq by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan.

The Iraqi premier, who also visited the UAE in 2006, was accompanied by a ministerial delegation and was welcomed by Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, also the emir of Dubai, the official WAM news agency said.

During Sheikh Abdullah's June trip, the first by a high-ranking official from an Arab state in the Gulf since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, he said the UAE would name an ambassador to Baghdad within days.

The UAE withdrew its most senior diplomat - a charge d'affaires - from Baghdad in May 2006 after another diplomat was kidnapped by Islamist militants and held for two weeks.

An Iraqi government spokesman said on Thursday that Jordan's King Abdullah II will visit Iraq next week in what would be the first trip by an Arab head of state since the invasion that ousted Saddam.

Jordan announced it had appointed an ambassador to Iraq where its embassy has been run by a charge d'affaires since it came under deadly attack in 2003.

The Sunni-ruled Arab monarchies of the region had been reluctant to upgrade ties with Iraq, not just because of insecurity in the country but also because of its Shiite-led government's perceived tilt toward non-Arab Shiite Iran.

The appointment came a month after UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan became the first high-ranking official from an Arab country in the Gulf to visit Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion and said Abu Dhabi would soon name an ambassador to Baghdad.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (0 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.