Iraq has repatriated six Saudis, one of whom was wanted by security authorities in his country, Iraq's national security adviser said in remarks published Thursday. The six were handed over Monday, Muwaffak Rubaie, who visited Riyadh this week, told Arabic language dailies Asharq Al-Awsat and Al-Hayat. Rubaie said the Iraqi government did not have proof that the six extradited this week had committed any offense. However, after they were handed over, it turned out that one of them was wanted by Saudi authorities, who have been battling suspected Al-Qaeda militants for five years. “This is the first batch we have handed over to the Kingdom and will study ways of verifying the identities of the remaining detainees and their repatriation,” he said. Rubaie said the Iraqi government was holding “less than 100” Saudis, who had all been put on trial and convicted. US-led coalition forces in turn are holding “less than 50 Saudi detainees,” he added. The Iraqi official said Baghdad and Riyadh were agreed on the importance of joining forces “to combat terrorism,” and he urged Saudi Arabia to open an embassy in the Iraqi capital. “I told (Saudi Foreign Minister) Prince Saud Al-Faisal that the key of the villa that will serve as a nucleus for his country's embassy in Baghdad is in my pocket right now,” Rubaie said. He pointed out that the Kingdom and Iraq were in the process of establishing a hot electronic and voice line to exchange information. Rubaie said he passed over to the Saudi security officials information about some Saudis who were thought to be financing terrorism in Iraq. – Agencies “We have talked to the Saudi side about the problem of terror financing and we provided them with information which they have compared with the information they have,” he said. He held Syria accountable for the entry of fighters to Iraq. “We have concrete and conclusive evidence indicating that Syrian officials facilitated the crossing of the fighters,” he said. __
