Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Meets with Kenyan Foreign Ministry Undersecretary

Ambassador Hazem Al-Yousifi, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Legal and Multilateral Affairs met on 12/7/2019 with Ambassador Tom Amolo, Undersecretary of the Kenyan Foreign Ministry for Political and Diplomatic Affairs, in the presence of Ambassador Burhan Namik Al Jaff, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to Kenya.

Undersecretary Al-Yousifi affirmed during the meeting that Iraq attributes great importance to the African countries, especially Kenya, as one of the important countries in the continent, and outlined during the meeting several topics that included; the request for support of Iraq during the elections of the Human Rights Council (2020-2022) in the elections that will be held during the 74th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York 2019. The Undersecretary also stressed the importance of cooperation between the two countries in the face of terrorism and the possibility of cooperation and exchange of experience between them stating that Iraq seeks the possibility of signing a memorandum of understanding between the two countries in addition to the issue of the signing of the memorandum of understanding concerning the exemption of holders of diplomatic and service passports from visa of entry into both countries, and the facilitation of granting visas to businessmen and Iraqi citizens with regular passports.

Undersecretary Al-Yousifi also called on the Kenyan government to open its embassy in Baghdad, noting that the current situation in Iraq is stable and there is no security impediment to it. On his part, Mr. Amolo expressed his thanks and gratitude for holding this meeting and noted that his government views Iraq as an important and strong country in the Middle East and expects to be an important political and economic center in the near future.