Iraq to send envoy to OIC in Jeddah

Iraq to send envoy to OIC in Jeddah

SAUDI ARABIA: Riyadh, which has no diplomatic ties with Iraq, is to let Baghdad send an ambassador to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Jeddah in a new sign of improving relations, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

An Arab diplomatic source told Al-Hayat, "the Saudi foreign affairs ministry has given its agreement" to an Iraqi request via the OIC to appoint an ambassador to the 57-member Islamic body based in the Saudi Red Sea city.

The new envoy, who was likely to occupy the Iraqi consulate offices in Jeddah, which have been closed since relations were severed in February 1991 during the Gulf War, was also expected to handle future contacts with Riyadh, the daily said.

Saudi Arabia and Iraq have set aside years of bitterness in the aftermath of Baghdad's invasion of Kuwait and began a rapprochement at an Arab summit in Beirut in March. --AFP