Bahrain names envoy to Iraq amid warming Gulf ties

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain on Sunday named its first ambassador to Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the latest sign of warming ties between Baghdad and its Gulf Arab neighbors.

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa named career diplomat Salah al-Malki to the post, the official BNA news agency reported.

Bahraini newspapers said Malki -- who has also served at the United Nations in New York -- would be Bahrain's youngest ambassador.

No Arab country has had a permanent ambassador in the Iraqi capital since Egypt's envoy was kidnapped and killed shortly after arriving in 2005.

The United States has been pressing those Sunni Arab governments that are its allies to help the Iraqi government by forgiving debts and establishing high-level diplomatic representation.

In July, the United Arab Emirates said it was cancelling almost $7 billion of Iraqi debt including interest and arrears payments. A UAE diplomatic source said then that the Gulf state's envoy to India had been named as ambassador to Iraq and his appointment awaited the signature of the UAE president.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have both said they will send ambassadors to Iraq.

Oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia, the region's most influential country, wants the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government to reach out politically to Sunnis, who ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein but have complained of being marginalized since his overthrow.

Iraq is the only Shi'ite-led Arab country.

(Reporting by Firouz Sedarat, editing by Tim Pearce)