Tourism minister tackles stronger ties with Bahrain, UAE

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Minister of Tourism & Antiquities Qahtan al-Juburi discussed separately with the ambassadors of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in Baghdad means of furthering tourist relations, calling for facilitating the return of Iraqi artifacts in the UAE. “The tourism minister discussed with the ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Baghdad, Salah Ali Hassan, the possibility of investments by Bahraini companies to develop Iraq’s tourist and archeological sites,” the ministry’s media spokesman, Abdelzahra al-Talqani, told IraqiNews.com. “The minister also proposed to the Bahraini ambassador the signing of a memorandum of understanding to regulate relations between the two sides in the field of religious tourism,” he said, adding Juburi extended an invitation for the Bahraini minister of information and culture to visit Iraq. Meanwhile, Talqani said that the minister also discussed with the UAE ambassador in Baghdad, Abdullah Ibrahim al-Shahi, means to develop tourist relations between the two countries. Juburi asked the UAE envoy to facilitate the return of Iraqi antiquities in the UAE, he added. Many archeological pieces were smuggled out of Iraq after the 2003 invasion. The director of the general department for antiquities and heritage had announced in June 2008 that Jordan still keeps nearly 1600 pieces smuggled out of the country.   AmR (S)/SR 1