By Xinhua,
Cairo : Arab countries have no reservations to restore diplomatic ties with Baghdad, an Arab League (AL) official said on Tuesday.
The Arab countries are keen to set up best ties with Iraq, which is a pivotal state in the Arab system, Hisham Youssef, head of the AL chief office was quoted on Tuesday by the Egyptian MENA news agency as saying.
However, he noted that there are circumstantial reasons which prevent some Arab countries from reopening their embassies in Iraq at the current stage.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have expressed readiness to reopen their embassies in Baghdad but some preparations are still needed at this step, the AL official noted.
He also hailed the substantial cooperation between Iraq and the rest of the Arab states despite the issue of embassies, dismissing reports that the Arab countries moves to reopen their embassies in Iraq come at a U.S. request to face up to the Iranian leverage in the war-torn country.
On April 20, AL Secretary General Amr Moussa said he would soon appoint a high-level official to head the pan-Arab bloc’s mission in Iraq.
Arab countries hesitated to reopen embassies in Baghdad due to “security not political reasons,” he added.
After a blast at the Jordanian embassy in Iraq in August 2003, during which killed at least 17 people, many Arab diplomats chose to stay away from Baghdad.
In July 2005, Egypt pulled diplomats out of Iraq after its top envoy to Iraq Ihab al-Sherif was kidnapped and then killed in Baghdad.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit promised earlier to send a team to assess security situation in Iraq as a preliminary step towards sending back its ambassador to Baghdad.