By Alaa Al-Huwaijel
BAGHDAD, March 25 (KUNA) -- Iraq will be attending the upcoming Arab Summit, due in Jordan at the end of this month, with a victory against so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul under its belt.
Baghdad will be participating in the summit with a high spirit resulted from conquering a common enemy for the Arab countries, as well as progressing relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Although Iraq refused participation of Arab countries' armies in the fight against IS, it is now calling for the Arab nations' contribution to reconstruction of cities destroyed by the terrorist group, taking into account that Iraq was facing tough economic situation caused by the declining oil prices.
"Iraqi sacrificed its youth in the fight against terrorism, as well as protection of security and stability of the entire region, and this places a brotherly and moral responsibility upon our Arab brothers who should support Iraq rebuild the liberated cities," Ammar Tuma, an Iraqi MP of the National Alliance, said.
The Arab countries' support in reconstruction and help internally displaced persons will help mend the rift formerly affecting the Iraq-Arab relations, Tuma said in a statement to KUNA.
He said the Arab summit should put in place an Islamic-Arab project with a cultural and intellectual nature, which promoted tolerance and partnership in order to address extreme ideologies.
The Arab countries, he added, should coordinate efforts to uproot root causes of terrorism "which means the ideology and culture," as well as approving specific steps to eliminate them.
Ali Juburi, Political Sciences Professor at Baghdad University, said the Iraq-Saudi rapprochement would help Iraq's return to the Arab fold He told KUNA that Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir's recent visit to Baghdad which was followed by an Iraqi foreign ministry delegation's visit to Riyadh contributed to an agreement to form a joint coordination council.
Iraqi MP Abdulrahman Al-Luwaizi said the warmth of Iraqi-Saudi relations would help secure an Arab and Gulf support to Baghdad to rebuild areas destroyed by the terrorists.
Iraqi President Fuad Masum assigned Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi to represent him to the Summit because the former would be busy touring Arab and European countries to rally support for the reconstruction efforts.
Iraqi parliament speaker Saleem Al-Juburi had urged the Arab countries to "formulate clear initiatives to improve the Arab house and address pressing challenges without hesitation." Juburi, speaking while meeting with representatives of Arab diplomatic missions in Baghdad recently, said it was time the Arab countries join hands to counter all attempts to divide and isolate the Arab nations. (end) ahh.bs