Iraq calls Saudi Arabia to replace ambassador

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Iraq asked Saudi Arabia on Sunday to change its ambassador in Baghdad after his comments about Tehran’s involvement in the internal affairs of Iraq.

Riyadh reopened its embassy in Baghdad in December after shutting down during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Thamer al-Sabhan was the first Saudi Ambassador appointed since the reopening of the embassy in Baghdad.

Iraqi officials, particularly Shia politicians, were angered after Sabhan’s comments about the Shia militia’s alleged persecution of Sunni Muslims in the country.

Ahmed Jamal, the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Iraq, spoke to al-Aahd, a TV channel belonging to Iranian-backed Shia militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, part of the Hashd al-Shaabi militia.

“The presence of Sabhan is an obstacle to the development of relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia,” he said.

On his official Twitter account, Jamal stated that the Ministry had asked Saudi Arabia to replace the ambassador in Baghdad.

Sabhan had often made comments on the exclusion of Iraqi Shia militia groups in the military campaign against the so-called Islamic State (IS) to avoid abuses committed against the Sunni people in Iraq.

Moreover, the ambassador had repeatedly mentioned that there were assassination attempts to kill him.

Especially after Shia militia leader Aws al-Khafaji stated in an interview with a local Iraqi channel that killing the envoy would be an “honor.”

However, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry denied on Monday that a plot to kill the Saudi Ambassador had been uncovered.

Following the Ministry’s call to Saudi Arabia to replace Sabhan, the ambassador wrote on his official Twitter account, “I am a servant of this (Saudi) leadership which is seeking to assist the truth and the well-being of Muslims, may God preserve it.”

He also told Dubai-based Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV station that no changes would be made in Riyadh’s policies on Iraq.

“We have a very amicable relationship with Iraqi politicians that the media does not depict,” Sabhan added.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany