Qatar ready to contribute to reconstruction of Iraq

Qatar has told Iraqi President Barham Salih that it is ready to contribute to the reconstruction of areas of the country which were devastated by Daesh.

On Thursday, the Iraqi president held a meeting with the Qatari Ambassador to Baghdad, Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Sulaiti, who conveyed to Salih an invitation from the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani to participate in the activities of the 19th Doha Forum scheduled for 14 and 15 December.

The Iraqi presidency said in a statement that, during the meeting, Salih highlighted “the importance of relations between the two countries and the need to further develop them to serve the interests of the two brotherly peoples”, stressing that “the consolidation and expansion of cooperation frameworks between Iraq and Qatar serves the stability and security of the region as a whole.”

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For his part, Al-Sulaiti stressed, according to the Iraqi presidency, his country’s support for Iraq “and its willingness to contribute to the reconstruction of the liberated areas”.

In December 2017, former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi declared that Daesh had been defeated in the country. To date, however, refugees have been unable to return to areas from which they fled because the government has been unable to rebuild entire neighbourhood in cities including the northern capital, Mosul.

The Arab rift with Qatar intensifies – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]