Baghdad/Riyadh: Iraqi President Fouad Masoum’s visit to Saudi Arabia is aimed at patching up long-strained relations between the two countries as Baghdad battles militants, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The Iraqi President arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and met with King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz. No programme was announced for his talks on Wednesday.
The main focus of the visit is “normalising diplomatic and political relations between the two countries,” Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who is part of the Iraqi delegation, said.
The two sides also discussed “cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism and economic, trade and security relations,” Zebari said.
The meeting at King Abdullah’s palace in Riyadh was the highest-level contact in years between Iraq Saudi Arabia.
“The Iraqi president expressed his happiness to visit the kingdom and meet with his brother the king,” who welcomed the visiting delegation, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
“They discussed the latest developments on a regional and international level, as well as bilateral ties and ways to bolster them,” the SPA said.
Former premier Nouri Al Maliki’s eight years in office were marked by tensions with Saudi Arabia.
In June, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal warned of the risks of civil war in Iraq with unpredictable consequences for the region and blamed Al Maliki’s “sectarian policies” for increased violence there.
Baghdad shot back that Riyadh was “siding with terrorism” and responsible for providing militants with “financial and moral support.”
But Iraq is now reaching out to countries in the region and beyond for help in driving Daesh back.
Relations with Saudi Arabia began to improve after Masoum’s nomination of Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi in August to replace Al Maliki.
King Abdullah sent messages of congratulation, saying he hoped Al Abadi’s nomination would help “re-establish cohesion among Iraq’s people and preserve the unity and stability of Iraq”.
In September Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours joined a US-led bombing campaign against Daesh in Syria, although not in Iraq.
The SPA said Iraq’s foreign, finance and interior ministers accompanied Masoum for the meetings in Riyadh, which also included Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal, Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz, and senior security officials.
