Baghdad hosts union of Arab parliaments
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Speakers, representatives, and lawmakers from at least a dozen Arab parliaments have arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad to take part in a session of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Iraqi Speaker Mohammad Al-Halboosi, who has assumed the presidency of the Union since January, received numerous delegations from Arab lawmakers across the region, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Syria, at the Baghdad International Airport on Friday.
“Welcome brothers to Baghdad,” a place for “Arabism and peace," Halboosi wrote in a tweet.
In his opening remarks on Saturday, the Iraqi speaker called for “greater Arab unity” regarding the pressing issues in the Middle East.
The participants will discuss the state of Arab affairs in the world, including the recent devastating earthquakes that rocked Syria and Lebanon.
Al-Halboosi urged the countries to take part in Syria’s reconstruction efforts following the recent earthquakes.
Under the banner of Arab support for a stable Iraq, the 34th conference this year included a session on the internal affairs of the union, according to Mohammad Sidiq, the head of the Iraqi parliament’s foreign relations committee.
The session, which began formally on Saturday, will continue until Sunday.
Numerous participating Arab delegations from 18 Arab countries “praised” Iraq’s role in bringing the Arab countries together, the state media reported.
The lawmakers are also set to lay out a strategy for the Union as well as “activating” its role as the main body of coordination between the regional parliaments.
Established in 1973, the body was created to foster ties among the Arab parliaments.
Following the end of the three-year war against ISIS, Iraq adopted a “balanced” foreign policy in the region aimed at normalizing ties and reducing tensions, according to Iraqi diplomats.
Baghdad has hosted at least five rounds of mediation between the two regional arch-foes, Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose diplomatic ties broke down in 2016 following the execution of the Shiite cleric Nimr Al-Nimr by Riyadh.