Iraqi Foreign Ministry undersecretary for bilateral relations affairs Nizar Al-Khairallah discussed during a meeting with a Saudi Foreign Ministry delegation, led by Abdulrahman Al-Shihri, Deputy Head of the Information Department, the necessary arrangements to re-open the Saudi embassy in Baghdad. In a statement following the meeting, the Iraqi Ministry said measures to re-open the embassy which was closed in 1990 and opening a consulate in the Iraqi city of Erbil were discussed. A senior Iraqi protocol official attended the meeting. On the other hand, Saad Al-Hadithi, spokesman of the Iraqi Prime Minister's office, said in remarks about the visit of the Saudi technical committee to Baghdad to re-open the embassy, that the Iraqi government is gearing forward to see a remarkable breakthrough in the regional relations, particularly with strategic countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other countries. He suggested that a Saudi functioning embassy in Baghdad will no doubt constitute a linking point between the Saudi and Iraqi sides and a gate for more cooperation and coordination between the two countries.
