Saudi Arabia hands over 16 Iraqi prisoners-statement

BAGHDAD, Sept.21 (Iraqi News) Iraq’s national security advisor on Sunday said Saudi Arabia would hand over 16 Iraqi detainees in Saudi jails in preparation for an agreement on exchanging the convicted of jail sentences from the two countries. “Exchanging the detainees comes in shared efforts between Iraq and Saudi Arabia to boost cooperation and security coordination between the two countries according to the meetings held by the two countries officials,”a government statement cited Mowafaq al-Rubai, Iraq’s national security advisor, told IraqiNews.com-Voices of Iraq. Rubai did not elaborate details about any timeline for the detainees handover, but he said  “Saudi Arabia had handed over Iraq eight of the convicted in Saudi jails,”the announcement added. The move is the latest in slow steps by Saudi Arabia and Iraq to rebuild ties after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq brought new leaders to power. AM(P) 1