Qatar appoints ambassador to Iraq in 25 years

Baku. 11 September. REPORT.AZ/ Qatar’s emir has appointed an ambassador to Iraq, the first since the embassy was closed 25 years ago, Report informs referring to the foreign media, Iraqi and Qatari media said, in the latest sign of a thaw in relations between Gulf Arab countries and Iraq.

Iraq’s foreign minister had said in May that Qatar would open an embassy in Baghdad.

Qatari state media as well as Qatar-owned Al Jazeera said on their websites that Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani had issued a decree appointing Zayed al Khayareen as Qatar’s “ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Iraq”.

Tensions between the Sunni Muslim-ruled states of the Gulf and Iraq, which has a Shia majority, have eased since Prime Minister Haider Abadi took office last year.

A rapprochement could help strengthen a regional alliance against Islamic State militants who have seized vast areas in both Iraq and neighbouring Syria.