The United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it is to name an ambassador to Iraq within days, in the first such move by a US ally in the Gulf since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
The announcement came during a landmark visit to Baghdad by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the first by such a high-ranking official from an Arab country in the Gulf since the US-led invasion of 2003.
The foreign minister told reporters that the UAE would reopen its embassy and name an ambassador soon.
"Consultations are under way between the UAE and the Iraqi government about naming the ambassador to Iraq and reopening the Emirati embassy in the next few days," he told a press conference in Baghdad.
He said he hoped to see "an active and effective Emirati embassy in Baghdad in the coming weeks."
"We view Iraq as an important partner in the region, and we aspire to (Baghdad) being an important partner of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)," the Emirati news agency WAM quoted the Emirati chief diplomat as saying.
The oil-rich GCC that also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Washington has been pressing its Sunni Arab allies to show more support for the Shiite-led government in Baghdad by sending ambassadors to Iraq.
The UAE withdrew its most senior diplomat -- a charge d'affaires-- from Baghdad in May 2006 after one of its diplomats was kidnapped by Islamist militants and held for two weeks before being released.
Sheikh Abdullah, on a previously unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital, held talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as well as his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari and President Jalal Talabani.
Zebari said the UAE foreign minister's visit "marks a new start for the presence of Arab countries in Iraq" and that Baghdad had promises of similar moves by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
At an international meeting on Iraq in Stockholm last week, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice encouraged "everyone to increase their diplomatic, economic, social and cultural engagement with the people of Iraq.
"We especially urge Iraq's neighbours and friends to strengthen these ties through official visits to Iraq, the reopening of embassies and consulates, and the appointment of ambassadors," Rice said.
The Sunni-ruled Arab monarchies of the region have been reluctant to upgrade ties with Iraq, not just because of insecurity in the country but also because of its Shiite-led government's perceived tilt toward non-Arab Shiite Iran.
A US official said last week that Arab states have been encouraged by the recent crackdown on Shiite militias by Maliki, himself a Shiite, and motivated by a need to check Iranian-backed power plays in Lebanon.
A statement from Maliki's office said his government was opposed to "sectarian strife and to illegality."
It added that the government "wants to have better relations with the Emirates in all areas, and we hope (Thursday's) visit will mark the beginning of new relations between our two countries, especially in the areas of trade and investment."
Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain are also taking steps toward establishing a permanent diplomatic presence in Iraq.
Last Friday, Jordan said it would also appoint a new ambassador "in the coming days."
Jordan kept its embassy open in Baghdad even after it came under a deadly attack in August 2003, a mere five months after the invasion, but it is run by a charge d'affaires.
On May 4, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Cairo was ready to send a team to Baghdad to evaluate security conditions for opening an embassy.
Cairo has had no official representation since the July 2005 abduction and murder by Al-Qaeda of its charge d'affaires in Baghdad, Ihab al-Sharif.
Saudi Arabia, one of Washington's key regional allies, said in April it would reopen its embassy in Iraq only when security is restored.
