No ambassador from any Arab country has been stationed in Baghdad since 2005 [AFP]

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Emirati minister, announced the UAE would name an ambassador to Baghdad in the next week, the Iraqi government said.
 
The foreign minister's visit on Thursday is likely to be welcomed by Washington, which has been pressing Sunni Muslim Arab governments to support the government in Baghdad.
 
The decision to appoint an ambassador was unveiled during a meeting with Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister.
 
No ambassador from any Arab country has been stationed permanently in Baghdad since Egypt's envoy was kidnapped and killed shortly after arriving in 2005.

Only Syria and Jordan have sent foreign ministers to Iraq since the 2003 invasion, which ousted Saddam Hussein.
 
By comparison, Iraq has growing ties with neighbouring non-Arab Iran, which also has a Shia majority.
 
Analysts say the Iraqi government's reliance on US and other foreign troops and its close ties with Iran may also lie behind the reluctance by Arab states to normalise ties.
 
Baghdad has been asking its creditors to cancel about $60bn in debts, but Gulf Arab states have largely been silent to the request.
 
Iraq's debt to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE, stands at between $32.4bn and $55.4bn.

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