Saudi Arabia: Iraqi mission to the Islamic conference

Saudi Arabia has approved opening an Iraqi diplomatic mission to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Jeddah and thereby stressing the improvement of its relations with Iraq. Relations which were severed since the Gulf war in 1991, according to diplomats on Tuesday.

The Iraqi ambassador to the OIC, who takes the headquarters of the closed Iraqi consulate as headquarters in Jeddah will be in charge of future possible contacts between Riyadh and Baghdad. By the beginning of May an Iraqi paper said that the chairman of the Saddam University for Islamic studies Muhammad Majeed al-Saeed is the first candidate to assume this post.

A Saudi diplomatic source said that the Saudis are satisfied with the indications of the new Iraqi policy.