Kuwait appoints Iraq ambassador

Kuwait today named its first ambassador to Iraq since Saddam Hussein’s forces invaded the oil-rich country in 1990 and set off the Gulf War.

The announcement came as Iraq’s Shiite Muslim-led government reaches out to its Sunni Arab neighbors in a bid to ease tensions and secure investment needed to rebuild the country.

U.S. officials have also been encouraging Arab countries to normalize relations with Iraq to offset the influence of neighboring Iran, where many of Iraq’s current leaders sought sanctuary under Hussein.

Iraq’s Arab neighbors are suspicious of Baghdad’s close ties with Tehran and worried about the level of violence in Iraq. Though they have maintained economic links, no Arab nation has had a fully functioning embassy in Iraq since an Egyptian envoy sent in 2005 was kidnapped and killed.

The drop in violence in Iraq since last year has sparked renewed interest from the region. Kuwait is the third Arab country to name an ambassador to Iraq, after Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Bahrain has also indicated that it would send an envoy.

Kuwait will be represented by Ali Momen, a former military chief of staff, said the emirate’s official news agency, KUNA. His appointment will be confirmed in a decree by the emir, it said.

In another sign of Iraq’s expanding regional ties, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki received a visit today from Saad Hariri, the Sunni leader of Lebanon’s parliamentary coalition and son of the country’s slain former prime minister, Rafik Hariri.

Hariri, who heads a multibillion-dollar business empire, praised the Iraqi government for improving security and said he would encourage Lebanese and other Arab companies to invest in the country.

At a media conference broadcast on Iraqi television, Hariri also underlined the right of both countries to stability, security and “non-interference in their affairs.”

The U.S. military has accused Hezbollah, a Shiite Lebanese opposition group backed by Iran, of helping to train Iraqi militants.

Maliki’s spokesman, Ali Dabbagh, told reporters that Iraq was seeking dialogue with its “Arab brothers.”

“The visit of the lawmaker, the brother, Saad al-Hariri will contribute significantly to increasing the cooperation and the rapprochement between the two societies, the Iraqis and the Lebanese,” Dabbagh said.

Hariri’s visit follows a trip last week by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, the first Turkish leader to visit Iraq since U.S.-led forces toppled Hussein in 2003.

Maliki will continue his outreach efforts with a five-day trip to Germany and Italy beginning Monday, Dabbagh said in a statement. Maliki plans to hold talks with government leaders and representatives of companies interested in doing business with Iraq. He is also expected to meet Pope Benedict XVI.

 alexandra.zavis@latimes.com