Mohammed's visit supports Baghdad

Focus on bilateral ties and co-operation between Arab states. Visit comes just months after UAE announced plans to reopen embassy.

ABU DHABI // Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, arrived in Baghdad yesterday on a surprise visit signalling growing support for the Iraqi government among Arab nations. In a trip lasting several hours that included meetings with Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and Iraqi parliamentarians and officials, Sheikh Mohammed became the most senior Gulf leader to visit the war-torn country since Saddam Hussein's regime was ousted in 2003.

His visit offered a further boost to the Iraqi government just months after the UAE announced plans to reopen its embassy in Baghdad. He was welcomed at Baghdad airport by the prime minister in a ceremony broadcast on Iraqi state television. All roads to the airport were closed until he and his party left the tightly guarded airport in a heavily armed motorcade into the US-protected zone in Baghdad.

Speaking with reporters after meeting Mr Maliki, Sheikh Mohammed said his visit was aimed at boosting bilateral ties. "Our good relations will inevitably bear fruit," he said, adding that he looked forward to an exchange of visits by officials of the two countries. The government news agency WAM said he discussed "various levels of co-operation" between the two countries with top Iraqi officials. He wished other Arab countries would follow the UAE's example, WAM quoted him as saying.

Sheikh Mohammed noted that trade between the two nations was growing and that more than 100,000 Iraqis currently live in the UAE. Mr Maliki told reporters the UAE was looking for a site to build a new embassy in Baghdad, calling the visit "a great boost to the bilateral relations". Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied by a high-ranking delegation, including Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Foreign Minister, Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Interior Minister, and Abdullah al Shehi, the new Ambassador to Iraq. Sheikh Abdullah visited Baghdad in June and announced the Government's decision to re-establish a high-level diplomatic mission in Iraq. "The Emirates' gravitas is obvious, and therefore [this visit] will make the Iraqis feel they are being embraced by the Arabs," said Abbas Bayati, a member of the Iraqi parliament. "It will open channels of communication with the Arab world that have been closed almost entirely." Mr Bayati added that the visit confirmed "Arab openness to the Iraqi political reality". The past few months have seen a surge of Arab support for the post-Saddam government. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Egyptian foreign minister, arrived in Baghdad on Sunday, promising to reopen an embassy soon. Other high-profile visitors have included King Abdullah of Jordan and Lebanon's prime minister, Fouad Siniora, both in August. Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain have all named ambassadors to Baghdad since the UAE's announcement. Iraqi leaders anticipate that the relative decline in violence over the past 18 months will encourage other Arab countries to re-establish political and economic relations with the country. They also hope that strengthening ties with the UAE will eventually lead to greater Emirati involvement in the reconstruction of Iraq, whether as direct investment or technical support. Abdul Bari Zibari, another member of the Iraqi parliament, said economic co-operation would be a major part of Iraq's relationship with the UAE. "We are in the phase of building a new Iraq, at the political and urban level, and for that we need the expertise and the capital," said Mr Zibari. "The Emiratis have an experience in building their country in a very short period of time. We need the Emirates in reconstructing Iraq." When Mr Maliki met Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, in July, Sheikh Khalifa surprised him by writing off Iraq's debts to the UAE, which totalled nearly US$7 billion (Dh25.7bn). Mr Maliki's visit also brought the appointment of a UAE ambassador to Iraq, the first appointed to the post-Saddam government by an Arab country. Washington welcomed the debt waiver and the ambassador's appointment. The UAE is one of the largest contributors of aid to Iraq, and government officials say the dispatching of the ambassador would allow close oversight of the implementation of aid projects. [e-mail]