Jordan's Abdullah first Arab leader to visit Iraq

BAGHDAD-King Abdullah of Jordan on Monday became the first Arab leader to visit Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, a landmark step towards reducing Baghdad's isolation among its Sunni Arab neighbors.Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office released television footage showing the king embracing members of the Iraqi cabinet lined up to greet him. Abdullah and Maliki walked hand in hand along a corridor before sitting down for talks. Washington has urged Iraq's Arab neighbors to do more to embrace Baghdad, whose Shi'ite-led government complains it gets the cold shoulder in an overwhelmingly Sunni-led Arab world."The king of Jordan took a bold step when he visited Iraq today," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said in a television interview following Abdullah's visit. "We expect other Arab countries to move in this direction."In a statement released after he returned to Amman, Abdullah said other Arab countries should extend a hand to Iraq.Abdullah and Maliki discussed the improving security conditions in Iraq, where violence has dropped to four-year lows, and Iraq's efforts to rebuild after five years of bloodshed, Maliki's office said in a statement."The prime minister expressed his hope that this visit will open a new page in the relations between the two countries ... and strengthen security and stability in Iraq and the entire region," the statement said.

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