Jamal said Sabhan’s reported comments are untrue and harm relations between the two countries.
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It came after a Shiite militia leader, Aws Al Khafaji, said in an interview with a local Iraqi channel that killing the envoy would be an “honour”. He said this was happening as Iran tries to block reform efforts in Iraq and other Arab countries.
His posting got off to a rocky start however, with popular anger among Iraq’s Shiite majority over the execution by Saudi Arabia a few days earlier of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
In a sign that frustration is growing in Congress over Saudi Arabia, a bipartisan group of 60 lawmakers have signed a letter seeking to delay the Obama administration’s planned sale of $1.15 billion in arms and military equipment to Riyadh, the Foreign Policy reports.
Iraq’s foreign ministry has asked Saudi Arabia to replace its ambassador in Baghdad, Thamer Al-Sabhan, Iraqi state TV said on Sunday.
Worldwide media organisations state that Al-Shaban was against the Iranian regime for quite some time whereas attempts to murder him were also made in 2011 by Iran but the plan eventually failed by the U.S. intelligence agencies.
Al Sabhan stirred up controversy with biting comments about Iran, including the alleged assassination attempt by a militia. “If Sabhan was killed in Iraq, any factions involved would admit it, especially because he is wanted …”
Saudi Arabia reopened its embassy in Baghdad in December after keeping it shut since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
Sabhan was the first Saudi ambassador appointed since the reopening, which was seen as heralding closer cooperation in the fight against ISIS militants who control swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and have claimed bombings in Saudi Arabia.
“We have a very amicable relationship with Iraqi politicians that the media does not depict”, he added.
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Sabhan has on occasions received warnings from Iraqi officials for interference in the country’s internal affairs.
