Egypt to send ambassador to Iraq
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-22 17:01

Egypt will become the first Arab nation to send an ambassador to post-Saddam Iraq, the Iraqi foreign minister was to announce Wednesday, according to a copy of his speech.

In his address to an international conference on Iraq, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari praises Egypt for "showing regional leadership by taking the decision to appoint the first Arab ambassador we hope to soon welcome in the new Iraq," according to the text.

Arab nations withdrew their ambassadors from Baghdad under Saddam Hussein.

Some Arab nations, including Egypt, have diplomats in Baghdad, but none at the ambassador level — a source of irritation to Iraq's transitional government, which considered it less than a full commitment to Iraq.

Egypt is among Iraq's Mideast neighbors attending the conference hosted by the European Union and the United States on Iraq's future. Foreign ministers were expected to discuss diplomatic relations and border control in addition at the gathering.