FM conveys message from King to Iraqi President Saleh

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Wednesday conveyed a message from His Majesty King Abdullah to Iraqi President Barham Saleh reiterating the Kingdom’s solidarity with Baghdad’s anti-coronavirus efforts and voicing keenness on bolstering cooperation in various fields.

The message reaffirmed the Kingdom’s support to Iraq’s security, stability and sovereignty, in addition to its rebuilding efforts to fulfil Iraqi aspirations, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Saleh, during his meeting with Safadi in Baghdad, which was attended by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, voiced appreciation for His Majesty King Abdullah’s supportive stances towards Baghdad, reaffirming his country’s keenness on bolstering cooperation in all fields.

Talks during the meeting also went over regional developments and means of overcoming the regional challenges. 

Safadi also held separate meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kazemi and Iraqi Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al Halbousi.

Measures aimed at furthering bilateral relations topped the discussions with Kazemi, which were also attended by the Iraqi foreign minister. 

Safadi congratulated Kazemi on forming the Iraqi government. The two sides also reviewed the mutual efforts exerted in the economic, investment, commercial, defence and security fields.

Stressing that his country is working to develop mutual coordination to serve common interests, he highlighted the activation of the Iraqi teams tasked with identifying practical steps to increase cooperation and implement the agreements that the two countries have signed.

The two sides also touched on regional developments, reaffirming their continued consultation and coordination in this arena.

Halbousi and Safadi, in the presence of the Iraqi foreign minister, also discussed expanding cooperation, with Halbousi emphasising that the Kingdom’s stances “always support Iraq’s interests”.

Safadi and Hussein also held extensive discussions focused on ways to restore momentum towards deepening economic cooperation, which has been affected by the transitional conditions experienced by Iraq and the coronavirus pandemic, the statement added.

The two ministers agreed to prepare for the resumption of technical talks between the two countries to build on previous achievements resulting from cooperation agreements, and implement decisions in the fields of trade, investment, energy, education and health.

They also voiced their countries’ keenness on continuing to connect electricity networks, activating trade through Aqaba, building an oil pipeline between Basra and Aqaba and establishing a joint industrial zone.

Safadi and Hussein also agreed on enhancing anti-coronavirus cooperation and communication between stakeholders in the fields of health and education.

They also agreed that the two countries would resume talks during the upcoming weeks over implementing the economic agreements that were signed previously.

The Iraqi foreign minister informed Safadi that his country will resume supplying oil to the Kingdom soon, the statement said.

Talks also went over regional developments, particularly those related to the Palestinian cause and anti-terrorism, among others.

Safadi and Hussein also held a virtual meeting with their Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shukri, in the context of the mechanism of trilateral cooperation adopted by the leaders of the three countries — an institutional framework to enhance cooperation and increase coordination, according to the statement.

The three ministers affirmed the continuation of work to implement the outcomes of the trilateral summits, leading to wider cooperation between the Kingdom, Egypt and Iraq in various fields and deepening coordination in Arab issues and common challenges, according to the statement.