By Xinhua,
Baghdad : United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in Baghdad in an unannounced landmark visit on Thursday, an Iraqi foreign ministry source said.
“Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan has arrived in Baghdad to discuss the return of UAE diplomatic representation in the Iraqi capital,” the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
He said the visit, the first for a Gulf Arab foreign minister since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, came in response to initiation from his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Mahmoud al-Zebari.
They held a meeting tackling the reopening of the UAE embassy, the source said, adding the UAE foreign minister is expected to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki late in the day.
The UAE maintained only low-level representation in Baghdad after it withdrew its top envoy in Baghdad in 2006 following the kidnapping of one of its senior diplomats who was released two weeks later.