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Emirates To Send Envoy To Iraq

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The Associated Press

Published: June 6, 2008

BAGHDAD - The United Arab Emirates announced Thursday it will name an ambassador to Baghdad in the coming days, the first Arab country to restore full diplomatic ties to Iraq since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.

The announcement, made in Baghdad by the Emirates' foreign minister, Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, comes after strong U.S. pressure for Arab countries to play a bigger political role in Iraq to counter Iranian influence and promote reconciliation between the country's rival Sunni and Shiite communities.

Many of the Mideast's Sunni-led governments have been wary of establishing a full diplomatic presence in Baghdad because of security fears and mistrust of the Shiite-led government's ties to Iran, which has a fully accredited ambassador in Baghdad.

"We will hold talks to name the ambassador in the coming few days," Al Nahyan said. "We also hope that as soon as possible - and I am talking here about a few weeks - we will see an active Emirates embassy in Baghdad."

He said "the time has come" for Arab countries "to forge strong ties with Iraq."

U.S. and Iraqi officials praised the Emirates' decision and said they hoped other Arab governments would follow suit.

"This reflects, I think, an appreciation on the part of the Arabs that things are different in Iraq, both in security terms and in political terms," the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, said in Washington.

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