Moqtada Al Sadr, the powerful Iraqi cleric, has been received by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the latest meeting between senior Iraqi and Saudi figures.
The visit was his first in 11 years and comes after Iraq’s interior minister and prime minister held meetings in the kingdom in recent weeks.
Shortly after Mr Al Sadr's arrival in Jeddah on Sunday, he was met by the Saudi minister of state for Gulf affairs, Thamer Al Subhan.
"We have been very pleased with what we found to be a positive breakthrough in the Saudi-Iraqi relations, and we hope it is the beginning of the retreat of sectarian strife in the Arab-Islamic region," a statement from Mr Al Sadr's office said.
The Shiite cleric, who comes from a powerful line of religious figures, commands huge support in Iraq, leading vast protests against government.
His Saudi visit is the latest sign of an improvement in relations between the two countries, which have a trouble tempestuous past.
Despite their troubles, Saudi Arabia has always expressed its support for the Iraqi government in its efforts to fight terrorism.
Mr Al Sadr’s visit comes less than two weeks after interior minister Qasim Al Araji met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin.
Prime minister Haider Al Abadi also visited the kingdom last month to improve relations.
Earlier in the year, Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir headed to Baghdad for talks with Mr Al Abadi, the first such visit since 2003.
Despite the visits, Saudi Arabia is concerned about Iran’s influence in Iraq, particularly through the Shiite paramilitary force, known as the Hashed Al Shaabi, which has played a major role in fighting ISIL.
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
Notable cricketers and political careers
- India: Kirti Azad, Navjot Sidhu and Gautam Gambhir (rumoured)
- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
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Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
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