Iraq reopens embassy in Saudi

“This will be an important step in improving relations between the two countries,” Zebari told a gathering of Saudi officials and foreign diplomats at the reopening of the embassy closed in 1990 after Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait.

“Saudi Arabia has stood by the Iraqi people and the national reconciliation to create safety and security.”

Iraq has had a ‘charge d’affaires’ – a lower-ranking diplomatic agent – in Riyadh since November 2005 after the U.S.-led war to topple Saddam in 2003, but a new ambassador has yet to be named.

Saudi Arabia has no embassy in Baghdad, where the deteriorating security has limited the Arab diplomatic presence.

A bastion of Sunni Islam, Saudi Arabia has backed U.S. plans to send extra troops to tame spiralling violence in Iraq, but expressed concern about the ability of the Shi’ite-dominated Iraqi government to deliver.

Both Riyadh and Washington accuse Shi’ite power Iran of interfering in Iraq and fomenting violence there through support for Shi’ite groups. Iran denies the accusation.

Zebari told reporters he had talks earlier with Saudi officials that touched on Saudi militants who have gone to Iraq to join the insurgents fighting the Iraqi government.

“There are citizens from the kingdom who take part in activities and acts, there are detainees. There is a need for more exchange of security information on these groups,” he said.

“We have people on the kingdom’s wanted lists (of militant suspects), but because of the lack of channels of communication it’s been difficult to deal with this and help each other.”

Estimates of the number of Saudis who have gone to Iraq to fight with Islamist insurgents under the banner of al Qaeda range from several hundred to several thousand.

Saudi officials have expressed concern about the danger Saudi militants could pose if they return to the kingdom, where Islamists linked to al Qaeda also launched a campaign to topple the U.S.-allied Saudi monarchy in 2003.