DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi budget-carrier flynas on Wednesday launched the first direct flight between the kingdom and Iraq since the Gulf War 27 years ago, marking another move by the kingdom to improve ties with its neighbour in an attempt to blunt rival Iran’s vast influence there. The carrier posted on its Twitter account an image of the crew that took part in the inaugural flight, which took off from Riyadh bound for Baghdad just before noon. Saudi Arabia’s national carrier, Saudia, is scheduled to make its inaugural flight to Baghdad on Thursday, Abbas Al-Khafaji, the media director for Iraq’s Civil Aviation, told The Associated Press. A number of high-profile Iraqis have visited Saudi Arabia in recent months, including a rare visit in July by influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Saudi Arabia has consistently described Iraq as an Arab nation to differentiate it from Shiite but non-Arab Iran.

Source: National Post October 18, 2017 11:52 UTC