Iraqi Foreign Minister meets Arab League chief

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim on Tuesday met Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit ahead of a meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers on September 10.

In a joint press conference after their meeting, Al-Hakim told reporters that "we have discussed the Arab situation in general, the security of the Gulf and navigation, and we clarified Iraq's position on efforts to ease the tension between the US and Iran in the Gulf".

"We have explained ... Iraq's position on the Israeli attacks against Arab countries," Al-Hakim said, adding that they also discussed other significant regional issues, Xinhua news agency reported.

Aboul-Gheit told the press conference that he was in Baghdad to prepare for the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the League of Arab states in Cairo, which will be chaired by Iraq and scheduled to be held on September 10.

The visit comes amid tensions in the Middle East region between the US and Iran, the explosions of arms depots of the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi bases in Iraq, as well as the recent bombardments on positions in Syria and Lebanon.
IANS