FACTBOX: Regional ties with Iraq start to grow

(Reuters) - Egypt's foreign minister made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Sunday, state-run television reported, the latest sign that countries in the region are restoring ties with Iraq.

Following is a factbox on the region's relations with Iraq:

BAHRAIN - At the end of August, Bahrain named Salah al-Malki as its first ambassador to Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. EGYPT - Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Sunday, together with Egypt's energy minister. Egypt planned to assess the security situation "within months" with a view to possibly returning an ambassador.

Egypt's last envoy was kidnapped and killed shortly after arriving in 2005.

IRAN - Non-Arab Shi'ite Iran has strong ties with Iraq at many levels. Iran has a fully functioning embassy in Baghdad and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a high-profile trip to Baghdad last March. Iran has links to key Shi'ite parties and politicians in Iraq. Many prominent Iraqi Shi'ites lived in exile in Iran during Saddam's rule.

JORDAN - In August, Jordan's King Abdullah visited Baghdad, where he discussed improving security conditions with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Jordan recently named an ambassador to Baghdad, though it is unclear when he will take up the post.

A truck bomb killed 17 people outside Jordan's embassy in Baghdad in August 2003.

KUWAIT - Many Kuwaitis remain bitter about Saddam's 1990 invasion of their country. The state news agency named Ali al-Mumin as the new ambassador to Iraq last July without saying when he would take up his post. Kuwait hosted a regional meeting on stabilizing Iraq in April, a sign of improving ties.

LEBANON - Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was accompanied by the finance and foreign affairs ministers and other high-ranking officials in a Baghdad visit in August to discuss energy and trade. Lebanon shares Iraq's experience of seeking to end sectarian conflict by forming a government that balances the interests of competing communities.

SAUDI ARABIA - Oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia said last year it would open an embassy but it has not yet named an ambassador.

SYRIA - The governments of Iraq and Syria have a history of animosity since rival factions of the Baath Party took power in the two countries in the 1960s. Their embassies were shut and reopened only last year after Syria sent its foreign minister to Iraq. No ambassadors have been named. Iraq accuses Syria of not doing enough to stop militants crossing into Iraq.

TURKEY - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan visited Iraq in July, which could signal Ankara will upgrade its political ties. Relations have often been dominated by the presence of PKK Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, who launch attacks on Turkey.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Abdullah Ibrahim al-Shehhi, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to Iraq, takes up his post on September 9.