Egyptian delegation’s visit envisages economic objectives – lawmakers

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi legislators concurred that a recent visit paid by an Egyptian delegation led by Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit envisaged economic objectives, while others viewed it as an attempt to contain the Iranian influence by enhancing Arab presence in the war-scarred country. “Abul-Gheit’s visit to Iraq was of sheer economic objectives. It was very much welcomed considering the fact that Iraq is an oil exporter and needs close Arab economic cooperation,” Latif al-Hadji, a member of the Iraqi parliament from the Kurdistan Alliance (KA) bloc, told IraqiNews.com. “Iraq is behind as far as economic and agricultural aspects are concerned and would need Arab and neighboring countries’ help (in those spheres),” added Hadji, whose bloc is the second largest with 53 out of a total 275 seats. The KA is spearheaded by Fouad Maasoum. The Egyptian ministers of foreign affairs and petroleum Abul-Gheit and Sameh Fahmi had arrived on Sunday in Iraq in the first visit ever by high-level Egyptian officials in 18 years. Adnan al-Dulaimi, the leader of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front (IAF), said the visit had economic objectives and was also an attempt to boost ties with Iraq and get it to merge into the Arab ranks. “An important country, Egypt is welcome in Iraq. The visit might be late somehow but it is a very good start to cement bilateral relations between the two sides,” Dulaimi said. The IAF, the third largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with 38 seats, is composed of three key components, most prominent of them is Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi’s Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP). Haneen al-Qaddo, a legislator from the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), said the visit “is an Arab attempt to contain the growing Iranian influence in Iraq, in addition to its economic objectives”. “Some strategic goals are behind the visit: filling the Arab gap in Iraq vis-à-vis the increasing Iranian influence and seeking economic objectives of trying to obtain low prices for Iraqi oil like what Jordan succeeded to obtain,” Qaddo said. Iraq and Jordan had agreed in June 2008 to renew an oil deal signed in 2006, during talks Iraqi Prime Minister held with his Jordanian counterpart Nader al-Dhabi in Amman, to provide the Hashemite kingdom with oil at preferential prices for the next three years to come. “The visit came very late after others paid by Syria and Lebanon and also after the support the Iraqi government began to get on the Iraqi street,” the UIA lawmaker pointed out. The UIA, the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with 83 seats, is led by Abdelaziz al-Hakim, who also heads the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC). The Iraqi diplomacy has recently seen a diplomatic breakthrough as Arab leaders and officials paid visits to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, including King Abdullah II of Jordan in August and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad al-Seniora and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign minister. AmR (I) 1