Saudi Foreign Minister's visit to Iraq
For the first time in 14 years, a Saudi Arabian foreign minister has traveled to Iraq to meet and discuss with the country's prime minister and foreign minister. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir's visit began on Saturday.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir left for Iraq on Saturday morning (February 25) with a political delegation. The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced that Adel al-Jubeir is scheduled to first meet and discuss with his Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
According to Iraqi government information, the Saudi foreign minister's visit to the country will be the first since 2003. A Saudi official said about the visit that Adel al-Jubeir is also expected to emphasize the "permanent relations" between the two countries in talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other officials.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who has held political power in Iraq since 2014, is trying to ease his country's tense relations with Saudi Arabia, which soured after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
Saudi Arabia re-established diplomatic relations with Iraq in December 2015, and its embassy in Baghdad resumed operations. Saudi Arabia had no representative office in Iraq for 25 years.
Of course, relations between the two countries became even more strained after the overthrow of Saddam, and the statements of Thamer Al-Sabhan, the Saudi ambassador to Baghdad, regarding the participation of Iraqi Shiite militias in the fight against the terrorist movement "Islamic State" brought this strain to a peak.
It was during this same crisis that Thamer Al-Sabhan, the Saudi ambassador to Baghdad, was forced to leave the country at the request of the Iraqi government, eight months after he began his duties.
Fighting the “Islamic State” with the help of Iraqi Shiites
In 2014, the Iraqi government asked the country's Shiites for help in stopping the advance of the Islamic State terrorist group north and west of Baghdad. Since then, Iraq's Shiite militias have been the most important force against the jihadists.
The Islamic State terrorist movement has been severely weakened in Iraq. Since October of last year (2016), the Iraqi army's attacks on the Islamic State have caused these forces to gradually retreat from one of their most important centers of power, Mosul.
The Iraqi army managed to penetrate the western part of the city on Friday (February 24), taking control of some areas. On Saturday (February 25), Iraqi forces also tried to take control of the center of Mosul.
Iraqi army spokesmen have announced that the "Islamic State" terrorists are using the people of Mosul as their defensive shields to prevent the advance of Iraqi army forces in Mosul.
Source: DW
