Qatar and Iraq agree to open new relations page




Published May 23, 2017 - 05:42 GMT


The two countries agreed to "remove all that would disturb their relations, look to the future and not to depend on the past and open a new chapter in the relations between the two countries."

This came during a meeting between Haidar al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, the Qatari foreign minister, in the capital Baghdad, which arrived in the visit on Monday was not announced in advance, according to Qatar News Agency.

The meeting revealed the reopening of the Qatari embassy in Iraq soon, without specifying a specific date.

This is the first visit by a senior Qatari official, after limited tension between the two sides after the release of about a month of two kidnapped Qataris in Iraq since December 2015.

On Monday, Foreign Minister of Qatar Abadi extended an invitation from Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, to visit the country, which he promised to meet in the coming period.

During the meeting, they discussed relations between the two brotherly countries and means of enhancing them in various fields.

The two sides stressed "on the basis of the ties of brotherhood and historical brotherly relations between the two brotherly countries, to remove all that would disturb the relations between them, and look forward to the future and not dependence on the past, and open a new page in the relations between the two brotherly countries."

The Iraqi prime minister said he appreciated Qatar's decision to reopen the Qatari embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad soon.

The agency did not say exactly when the embassy would be reopened.

For his part, said the Qatari Foreign Minister: "The visit to Baghdad comes from the brotherly relations and close and firm between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Iraq sister."

He expressed Qatar's deep thanks to the Iraqi Prime Minister for "the efforts exerted by the Iraqi government in the final stages of releasing the Qatari nationals and their accomplices and supporting their release and securing them until they arrive at Baghdad airport and return them safely to the State of Qatar."

"The continued support of the State of Qatar and its support for the brotherly Republic of Iraq in all its actions to maintain Iraq's territorial integrity and people, achieve full control of all parts of the country and eliminate terrorist groups and armed militias," Al-Thani said.

On April 21, 26 Qataris who were part of a fishing group in Iraq were freed and kidnapped in December 2015 by a convoy of about 100 gunmen in the desert in southern Iraq near the Saudi border.

Following their release, Abadi and Qatar's Foreign Minister exchanged statements in which the two countries' views differed on the release of the abducted Qataris and what was done during them.

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