Date: Apr 5, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Riyadh opens consulate in Baghdad in sign of improving ties BAGHDAD: Saudi Arabia Thursday reopened a consulate in Baghdad for the first time in nearly 30 years and announced a $1 billion aid package for Iraq, a sign of improving ties between the two neighbors whose relations have been uneasy for years. The consulate, which will issue visas to Iraqis, was opened at a ceremony in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, during which Iraq’s Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Hakim raised a green Saudi flag over the building. Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Sahhaf said the move was expected to benefit both countries. “This will reflect positively on pilgrims and investors,” he told the Associated Press. He said work was also underway to reopen border crossings between Iraq and its southern neighbor. Iraq lies on the fault line between Iran and the Arab world, and its relations with the Saudi kingdom have long been troubled. Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iraq when it invaded Kuwait in 1990. Diplomatic relations were resumed in 2015 when Riyadh sent an ambassador to Baghdad, and improved with the then-Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir’s visit in 2017, the first by a Saudi foreign minister since 1990. But consulate services were not resumed and Iraqis applying for visas had to go through the Saudi Embassy in Jordan. Riyadh is now seeking closer ties to Baghdad to counter Iran’s growing influence in the region and in Iraq in particular, while the Iraqi government seeks to attract Saudi investments to spur economic growth. Thursday’s consulate ceremony came on the second day of a two-day visit by a delegation headed by the Saudi Commerce and Investment Minister Majid bin Abdullah al-Qasabi. The delegation met with Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi and held talks with Iraqi businessmen and senior Iraqi officials meant to boost relations between the two countries. Qasabi said three more consulates were expected to open in Iraqi cities. He also said Saudi Arabia would provide Iraq with $1 billion in loans for development projects, plus $500 million to boost exports and a gift of a 100,000-seat sports stadium to be built on Baghdad’s outskirts. A joint Saudi-Iraqi business council also proposed dozens of opportunities in Iraq for Saudi private investors and a free trade zone along the desert border between the two countries, he said. “We have started a new phase in relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia,” he added. Abdel-Mahdi is visiting Iran Saturday and plans to visit Saudi Arabia later this month during which a number of trade agreements are expected to be signed. Iran is the second-largest supplier of imported goods to Iraq and also has deep-rooted political influence in the country, particularly over Shiite factions. Last year, Washington urged Baghdad to partner with U.S. firms instead of relying on Iranian gas and electricity, key crutches for Iraq’s faltering power sector. Riyadh, too, has looked into providing electricity to Iraq through solar power and hosted Iraqi President Barham Salih last year, a major step in the bilateral relationship.