Visit of Jordan's King Abdullah to Iraq delayed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - King Abdullah of Jordan's plan to visit Iraq on Wednesday has been postponed, an Iraqi official said on Tuesday, adding that no reason had been given.
Abdullah was to be the first Arab head of state to travel to Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The trip would further ease Iraq's diplomatic isolation from its Sunni Arab neighbors.
"We were informed by the Jordanians that the visit was postponed. No new date has been set and we don't know the reasons," Naseer al-Ani, a senior official in Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's office, told Reuters.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the date of the King's visit during a meeting with Arab ambassadors in the United Arab Emirates on Monday. Iraqi officials later confirmed it would be on Wednesday.
Sunni Arab governments, wary of Iraq's close ties with neighboring Shi'ite Iran, have largely stayed away from Iraq since the invasion, citing security concerns. No Arab ambassador has been stationed permanently in Iraq since Egypt's envoy was kidnapped and killed shortly after arriving in 2005.
On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates appointed a new ambassador to Iraq and cancelled $7 billion of debt owned by Baghdad. Jordan has also named an ambassador.
(Reporting by Wisam Mohammed; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)
