Iraqi ambassador hails strong ties with Jordan

AMMAN — Iraqi investments in the Kingdom stand at about $18 billion, divided among industry, real estate, hospitals, as well as the finance and banking sectors, Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan Haidar Al Athari said on Tuesday.

In remarks to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Athari commended Amman’s supportive stance to Baghdad, expressing his country’s keenness on advancing partnership and cooperation with the Kingdom.

Lauding Jordan’s vital role in maintaining regional peace, the diplomat highlighted the Jordanian-Iraqi coordination against terrorism and extremist groups.

The envoy also reviewed the two countries’ economic cooperation referring to the cooperation agreement signed in 1980 and the free trade agreement made in 2009, in addition to recent cooperation agreements, including the announcement of the establishment of a Jordanian-Iraqi free industrial zone in the border region between the two countries, and the electric linkage project.

On the Palestinian cause, the diplomat said that Middle East peace opportunities are tied to giving Palestinians their rights, and the implementation of relevant UN resolutions.

The Hashemites have preserved the Custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem for 103 years, he said, highlighting His Majesty King Abdullah’s efforts in preserving the identity of Jerusalem.

Talks also went over the important humanitarian role that the Kingdom has played by receiving millions of refugees, praising the fact that Jordan has kept its borders open to Iraqi refugees, “when the whole world closed its doors to them”.

Jordan has always been “Iraq’s lung”, he concluded.