Saudi Arabia opens new Baghdad consulate and pledges $1bn in loans for Iraq

Arab News

April 5, 2019

Riyadh, Apr 5: Saudi Arabia opened a new consulate in Baghdad on Thursday after announcing $1 billion in loans for development projects in Iraq.

Three more diplomatic branches are to be opened in other Iraqi cities soon, Saudi Arabia’s Commerce and Investment Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qassabi said

Saudi Arabia and Iraq have moved to improve relations in recent months. The Kingdom reopened its Baghdad embassy in 2016 after it was closed in 1991 in response to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

The opening of the new consulate building came as senior ministers from the Kingdom visited Baghdad as part of a meeting of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council, Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi Arabia will provide Iraq with $1 billion in loans for development projects, Al-Qassabi said, plus $500 million to boost exports and a gift of a 100,000-seat sports stadium to be built on Baghdad’s outskirts.

“A new phase of relations between Riyadh and Baghdad has begun,” Al-Qassabi, who is leading the Saudi delegation, said.

“We have seen from the Iraqi side sincere feelings of brotherhood.”

He said 13 agreements between the two countries were in their final stages. These will “have a significant impact on raising the level of cooperation between the two countries,” Al-Qassabi added.

Trade will also be boosted when the Arar border crossing between the two countries opens in six months.

Al-Qassabi was speaking during a press conference held with Iraq’s Oil Minister Thamir Ghadban.

The second session of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council, started on Thursday in Baghdad.

The meeting discussed ways to improve cooperation and relations. The council previously met in Riyadh in October 2017.

As part of the visit, around 80 Saudi and Iraqi businessmen and investors met on Thursday on improving economic ties.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan visited some of Baghdad’s famous historic and cultural sites on Thursday.

These included Mutanabbi Street, Al-Qashla and the Abbasid Palace.

“Baghdad is distinguished by many cultural and archaeological landmarks, which are immortalized by history as cultural symbols of great importance,” Prince Badr said. “Baghdad is considered a beacon of cultural heritage in the Arab world.”

The first meeting of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council was held in Riyadh in October 2017.

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‘Israeli aggression has killed 70 percent of Zionist captives in Gaza’

News Network

May 17,2024

Hamas says the Israeli regime’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, which is enduring a genocidal Israeli war, has killed 70 percent of the Zionist captives, who have been held by the Palestinian resistance movement since an October operation.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas’ Political Bureau, announced the information in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Manar television network on Thursday.

“The Zionist enemy wants to recover the remaining captives by force, killing them by bombing,” he said.

Around 250 people were taken captive on October 7 last year during Al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

At least 35,272 Palestinians have died in an Israeli war of genocide that began following the operation.

Hamas released 105 of the captives during a week-long truce in late November.

Hamas recently agreed to another truce proposal enabling cessation of the Israeli aggression and release of the rest of the captives. The Israeli regime, however, rejected the proposal.

The Hamas’ official said, “The latest proposal presented to us comes very close to our demands, but the enemy has not respected the proposal or the mediators.”

Al-Hayya reiterated the movement’s demands, saying any potential truce agreement had to mandate a complete and comprehensive cessation of the Israeli aggression, withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, and then a captive exchange deal.

‘Victory is our ally’

The Hamas’ official pointed to the Israeli regime’s failure to realize its war goals, including defeating the resistance.

“After eight months of aggression, the enemy has failed to eradicate the resistance in Gaza despite all the actions of the occupation,” he said.

“The resistance has rebuilt itself and can adapt its capabilities to face the occupation,” the official said, asserting, “The resistance is capable of enduring for many months and will continue to defend its people as long as the battle is ongoing.”

“The resistance has the ability to continue because it is right, and victory is our ally, while the enemy will face defeat.”

Thanking regional resistance

Elsewhere in his remarks, al-Hayya expressed gratitude towards the regional resistance groups for the pro-Palestinian operations that they have been carrying out against Israeli targets and those associated with the occupying regime.

“The fronts in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq support Gaza and link the cessation of [their] operations to the end of aggression on Gaza,” he said.

“When we meet with the resistance forces in the region, we affirm that the battle is one.”

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