Iraqi VP calls for AL to help boost ties with Arab countries-statement

BAGHDAD/IraqiNews.com: Iraq’s Vice president on Sunday called for the Arab League to help Iraq boost ties with Arab countries after two decades of isolation. Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi received Arab League Ambassador to Baghdad Hani Khallaf. “VP Hashemi called for boosting Iraq’s ties with Arab countries and to help it restore its seat and membership in Arab and Gulf countries organisations,” VP office statement received by IraqiNews.com. Hashemi called on expanding Arab activities, noting “they must be expanded to education and economic aid and not to be confined to the political aspect,” the announcement noted. Egyptian diplomat Hani Khallaf will took up his post on in October as head of the Arab League’s mission in Iraq. Al-Maliki in April appealed to Sunni Arab states to help stabilize Iraq by living up to pledges to forgive his country’s debts, erasing war reparations and reopening embassies in Baghdad. Egypt is the latest Arab country seeking to strengthen ties with Iraq since April when the United States urged its Sunni Arab allies to reopen embassies in Baghdad in a bid to shore up the Maliki government. Since then Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have named ambassadors to Baghdad and some Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II, have made surprise visits to Iraq. Washington’s regional foe Syria also named an ambassador to Iraq in September. AM(S ) 1