‘Arab alliance’ meets in Iraq in first visit in decades for Egyptian leader

CAIRO, June 27 (Reuters) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Khadhimi and King Abdullah of Jordan. See you in Baghdad on Sunday. During the Emir of Egypt’s first visit to Iraq since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait 1990.

The First Gulf War split diplomatic relations between Iraq and Egypt. But these relationships have improved in recent years. Many high-ranking officials from both countries exchanged visits.

The United States has called on Iraq to increase ties with Arab nations in response to Iran’s influence. And Sisi’s visit is the third round of talks between Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, aimed at closer security, economic, trade and investment cooperation.

in the past few years Iraq has signed cooperation agreements in the energy, health and education sectors with the two countries.

on sunday The three leaders discussed various interests in the region. including the latest developments on the Palestinian issue. Counter Terrorism and Economic Cooperation The statement of the Egyptian president said

“The Leaders stressed the need to deepen consultation and coordination between the three countries on the most important regional issues,” the report added.

Kadhimi, Sisi and Abdullah held a summit in Amman last year and are scheduled to host another in Baghdad in April. But this was delayed after a fatal train crash in Egypt. Read more

Egypt signed 15 agreements and memorandums of understanding in sectors including oil, roads, housing, construction and trade in February. After the Iraqi cabinet in December approved a renewal of a contract to supply Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) with 12 million barrels of Basra light crude for 2021.

Iraq also plans to build a pipeline for exporting 1 million bpd of Iraqi crude from the southern city of Basra to the port of Aqaba in the Jordanian Red Sea.

“There are real economic benefits that come from “Arab alliance” for the three alliances especially in energy diplomacy,” said Hafsa Halawa, an off-campus scholar at the Middle East Institute, adding there was hope for stronger ties. underscores US involvement in the region

“Hope remains that some aspects of this alliance can pull Iraq slightly out of the orbit of Iranian influence. But not by running back into US arms. And it becomes the binary of being stuck between Washington and Tehran,” she added.

(This story refiles to correct spelling error of analyst’s name as “Halawa”, not Halwa)

Reporting by Amina Ismail; Edited by Toby Chopra

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