Arab League to send Egyptian diplomat to Iraq

Jul 31, 2008, 13:34 GMT

Cairo - Arab League Chief Amr Mussa appointed retired diplomat Hani Khalaf, an Egyptian national, to head the Arab League representation in Iraq, an Arab League statement said Thursday.

The new Arab League ambassador will fly to Baghdad in October, the statement said.

The Arab League office in Baghdad was previously headed by a Morrocan, Mukhtar Yemeni, who resigned in the summer of 2007 over the security conditions in the country. Since then the post has been vacant.

Egypt for its part has not sent a top diplomats to Iraq since the killing of its ambassador there, Ihab al-Sherif, in July 2005, five days after he was kidnapped in Baghdad.

Cairo still has no ambassador in the war-torn country.

But the appointment of Khalaf marked the first time a high-ranking Egyptian official will be based in the country, as a representative of the Arab League, since the July 2005 killing.

Khalaf is a former assistant to the foreign minister and has served as an Arab League envoy elsewhere.

Addressing the issue of safety, Khalaf pointed out his Arab League office is located in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone. He also noted the recent ebb in the Iraqi violence.

After the US-led invasion in 2003, Arab countries have refrained from sending diplomats to Iraq. Their action was backed both by the lack of security in the war-torn country and to show their disproval of the US invasion.

In May 2006, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to Iraq, Dibba al-Hosn, was also taken hostage for 15 days when a militant group attacked his motorcade killing his Iraqi driver.

While, Iraqi diplomatic ties with Arab countries have been strained, Iraqi officials say they are witnessing a thaw as a result of a 'diplomatic offensive' they have launched.