04 March 2016By Tariq Alhomayed
In an interview published in this newspaper on Saturday, the Iraqi Defence
Minister Khaled Al-Obaidi said that Iraq's current government ''has announced
its political favouritism by opening up to all Arab brothers without
exceptions''. The minister specifically talked about Saudi Arabia saying that
it is ''an important country that has a place in the Arab, Islamic, regional
and international community. We need to help it, and if we received an
invitation to visit the kingdom, we are ready to respond to it and meet our
Saudi brothers and leaders. Certainly, Saudi's cooperation with us will have a
significant impact on the fight against ISIS''.
Of course, the minister's comments are considered to be positive and a source
of happiness to any prudent person except that Reuters news agency yesterday
published news that talked about what it describes as the ''violent'' reactions
of Shiite Iraqi legislators in response to statements by the Saudi ambassador
to Iraq Thamer Al-Sabhan who was quoted as saying on Sumaria Iraqi television
channel that Hashd Al-Shabi, an alliance of Shiite armed groups supported by
Iran to fight ISIS, must leave fighting ISIS to the army and the official
security forces so as to avoid an escalation in sectarian tensions.
Following the Saudi ambassador's statement, some Shiite Iraqi representatives
issued a number of violent and extreme statements the most notable of which
was a demand by Awatef Nima, MP from the State of Law bloc, to ''immediately
expel the Saudi ambassador from Iraq to teach him a lesson in respecting the
country which is hosting him, and in the event that he stays, he will face
unpleasant consequences''. We do not know whether she meant attacks on the
Saudi embassy in Iraq like the brutal attacks on the Saudi embassy in Iran.
What is certain is that these emotional, sectarian statements should be taken
seriously. Are the statements of the ambassador considered unacceptable whilst
the Iraqi Prime Minister's statements about the recent executions of
terrorists in Saudi Arabia acceptable?
It is clear that in Iraq there are those who want to destroy any Iraqi-Arab
rapprochement, especially with Saudi Arabia and the beneficiary of all this is
Iran. It is therefore necessary that there be Saudi-Iraqi agreement despite
all of these statements and that Iraq is not left to the Iranians and
extremists. Intervention in Iraqi internal matters and instant responses are
not what is required here. Rather, what is needed is more communication,
denying extremists opportunity and diminishing the chances of destroying
Saudi-Iraqi relations thereby establishing competent authority in Baghdad.
Tariq Alhomayed is the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.
Mr. Alhomyed has been a guest analyst and commentator on numerous news and
current affair programs, and during his distinguished career has held numerous
positions at Asharq Al-Awsat, amongst other newspapers. Notably, he was the
first journalist to interview Osama Bin Ladin's mother. Mr. Alhomayed holds a
bachelor's degree in media studies from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah.
He is based in London.
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