Iraq calls on Saudis to replace envoy
Print Edition
IRAQ asked Saudi Arabia yesterday to replace its ambassador in Baghdad after his comments about Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs and the alleged persecution of Sunni Muslims angered local Shiite Muslim politicians.
The request by the Shiite-led government underscores the depth of enmity between Sunni and Shiite regional powers as sectarian conflicts rage in Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
Riyadh only reopened its embassy in Baghdad in December after keeping it shut since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Thamer al-Sabhan was the first Saudi ambassador appointed since the reopening, which was seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against Islamic State, which control swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and has claimed bombings in Saudi Arabia.
“The presence of Sabhan is an obstacle to the development of relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia,” Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal told al-Aahd, a TV channel belonging to Shiite militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq.
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