Saudi Foreign Minister’s Visit to Iraq
For the first time in 14 years, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister traveled to Iraq to meet and hold discussions with the country’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. The trip by Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, began on Saturday.
Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, traveled to Iraq on Saturday morning (March 25, 2017) accompanied by a political delegation. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry announced that Al-Jubeir would first meet and hold discussions with Ibrahim al-Jaafari, his counterpart in Iraq.
According to information from the Iraqi government, this visit by Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister to the country marks the first such visit since 2003. A Saudi official stated regarding this visit that Al-Jubeir would also emphasize “stable relations” between the two countries in discussions with Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s Prime Minister, and other officials of the country.
Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s Prime Minister, who has held political power in Iraq since 2014, is seeking to ease the tense relations between his country and Saudi Arabia; relations that had deteriorated following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
Saudi Arabia resumed diplomatic relations with Iraq in December 2015, and the country’s embassy in Baghdad also resumed operations. Saudi Arabia had not had any representation office in Iraq for 25 years.
However, relations between the two countries became strained again after Saddam’s overthrow, and statements by Thamer Al-Sabhan, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in Baghdad, regarding the participation of Iraqi Shiite militias in fighting the terrorist “Islamic State” brought this tension to its peak.
It was during this crisis that Thamer Al-Sabhan, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in Baghdad, was forced to leave the country at Iraq’s government’s request, eight months after beginning his duties.
Fighting the “Islamic State” with the Help of Iraqi Shiites
The Iraqi government requested help from Iraqi Shiites in 2014 to enable it to halt the advance of the terrorist “Islamic State” organization in the north and west of Baghdad. Since then, Iraqi Shiite militias have been the most important force against the jihadists.
The terrorist “Islamic State” organization is currently severely weakened in Iraq. Since October of last year (2016), attacks by the Iraqi army on the “Islamic State” have caused these forces to gradually withdraw from one of their most important centers of power, Mosul.
The Iraqi army successfully penetrated the western section of the city on Friday (February 24, 2017) and brought areas under its control. Iraqi military forces also attempted on Saturday (February 25, 2017) to bring the center of Mosul under their control.
Spokespeople for the Iraqi army have announced that “Islamic State” terrorists are using Mosul’s residents as a human shield to prevent the advancement of Iraqi army forces in Mosul.
Source: DW
