|
|
|
Bahrain To Reopen Baghdad Embassy After Decade-Long Break
MANAMA, April 1 (AFP) - Bahrain is to reopen its Baghdad embassy on "humanitarian grounds" after a 10-year break since Iraq invaded Kuwait, following the example of two other Gulf states, the Foreign Ministry announced Saturday.
An adviser from the ministry, Hassan Malallah al-Ansari, arrived in Baghdad on Thursday to prepare for the reopening which was decided "on strictly humanitarian grounds," an official said.
He said a key task of the embassy would be to protect the interests of Bahraini pilgrims to Shiite Muslim holy sites in sanctions-hit Iraq. Manama also aims to boost trade with Baghdad.
"Diplomatic relations between Bahrain and Iraq were never broken off," he said, quoted by the official GNA news agency, noting that Baghdad had kept a charge d'affaires in Manama ever since the Gulf crisis triggered by Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Stressing that the reopening of the embassy did not signal a new policy, he called for Iraq to implement U.N. resolutions and said "Bahrain's position on this has not changed and will not change."
In Baghdad, an Arab diplomat said that the Bahraini embassy would open soon.
Bahrain becomes the third Gulf Arab state to have a diplomat posted in Baghdad. Qatar also renewed ties following the 1991 Gulf War which liberated Kuwait, while Oman maintained relations even during the crisis.
In December, a Dubai-based passenger and car ferry started a service between Bahrain and the southern Iraqi port of Um Qasr.
The U.S. 5th Fleet, whose carrier-based warplanes patrol the skies of southern Iraq, has its headquarters in Bahrain. During the Gulf conflict, Iraq fired Scud missiles at the island state.
|
