Soon: Egypt’s envoy to Baghdad to start work

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The new Egyptian ambassador to Iraq, Sherif Shahine, will officially begin his work in the capital Baghdad in a few days, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit said. This came during a joint press conference with the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, the Egyptian al-Ahram newspaper said in its Wednesday issue. The Egyptian minister said that the dispatch of an envoy to Baghdad will help boost Iraq’s relations with Arab countries and the whole region, according to the paper. Sherif Shahine is an Egyptian diplomat. Formerly the ambassador to Zambia, Shahine became his country’s ambassador to Iraq on June 22, 2009. He is the first Egyptian ambassador to Iraq since former ambassador Ihab al-Sharif was kidnapped and killed in July 2005. SS (P)/SR 1