Iraq asks Saudi Arabia to recall ambassador
Thamer Al Sabhan was the first Saudi ambassador appointed since the reopening of the embassy, which was seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against IS
BAGHDAD: The Iraqi government officially asked Saudi Arabia to replace its first ambassador to Baghdad in more than a quarter of a century, accusing him of fabricating a story about an attempt on his life.
“We did our best to facilitate the reopening of the Saudi embassy in Iraq to improve bilateral relations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said on Sunday by phone. He accused envoy Thamer Al Sabhan of mak- ing “many improper media statements” that Iraq considered “blatant intervention” in its affairs.”
Al Sabhan stirred up controversy with biting comments about Iran, including the alleged assassination attempt by a militia.
Saudi Arabia reopened its Baghdad embassy in December 2015, having cut ties following Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Al Sabhan was the first Saudi ambassador appointed since the reopening, which was seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against IS militants who control swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and have claimed bombings in Saudi Arabia.
Jamal alleged that Al Sabhan used his presence in Iraq to fan antipathy. Such statements, he said, incite “sectarian feelings” inside Iraq, which has seen years of strife. He tweeted that the ministry was “asking its Saudi coun- terpart to replace the ambassador of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom in Baghdad.”
Jamal also denied the envoy’s claim last week of an assassination plot. “Al Sabhan didn’t inform us as a ministry, or the government or the security ministries about an assassination attempt” allegedly carried out by a militia, the spokesman said. “He instead opted to talk to the media about it.”
The Iraqi government asked Al Sabhan to present evidence to back up his claim. He didn’t and the “media fabrication” is an offence to the government’s ability to protect diplomatic missions, Jamal said. Iraqi politicians and militias have made persistent calls to expel Sabhan.
Sabhan, responding to messages expressing solidarity with him after the Iraqi announcement, tweeted: “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.”
In an interview on the Dubaibased, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV station, he said Saudi Arabia’s policies on Iraq would not change.
“We have a very amicable relationship with Iraqi politicians that the media does not depict,” he added.