May 30, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 17,1423

RIYADH, May 29: Saudi Arabia, which currently has no diplomatic ties with Iraq, has agreed to let Baghdad send an ambassador to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), sending a clear sign of improving ties between the two countries.

“The (Saudi) foreign ministry has given consent” to an Iraqi request via the OIC to appoint an ambassador to the 57-member body, the Saudi daily Al-Hayat said, quoting a Riyadh-based Arab diplomat.

The Iraqi envoy, who is likely to operate out of the currently closed Iraqi consulate building in Jeddah, will also be responsible for future contacts with Riyadh.

The consulate and the Iraqi mission in Riyadh have been closed since the Gulf war.

An Iraqi newspaper said earlier this month that an Iraqi academic, Mohammad Majid Al-Said, was tipped for the Jeddah position.

Of late Saudi Arabia and Iraq have gone a long way in mending fences.

Saudi exports to Iraq under the UN “oil for food programme” has crosses the one billion dollar mark.

According to Iraq’s industries minister, who was in Saudi Arabia recently, the prospects of these ties growing further were very much there.

Despite no official announcement yet, reports here indicate that in order to facilitate the movement of goods from Saudi Arabia to Iraq, the Arar border post between is likely to be reopened soon. Already queues of trucks loaded with Saudi goods are seen moving towards the border post, waiting for arrangements to be completed before they are allowed entry into Iraq.