Tarawneh meets with Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad

AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh and his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed Halbousi on Wednesday stressed the importance of enhancing parliamentary communication between the two countries, and coordinating mutual stances for the interest of the two peoples.

Tarawneh made his remarks during talks with Halbousi in Baghdad, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

"We look forward to relations with our Arab region, based on mutual understanding of the challenges we face in our region, which are the same challenges that faced the Iraqi people, but they were able to turn them into opportunities and start building a modern Iraq, characterised by the values of democracy, pluralism and stability," Tarawneh said.

He stressed the importance of bolstering cooperation between Jordan and Iraq at a stage where joint Arab action is in need of support, pointing out that "parliamentary diplomacy comes at the forefront of expressing the aspirations of our nations to unify positions towards different challenges and issues". 

"We support the efforts of our brothers in Iraq in the fields of the war on terror, and we pledge to continue the war on extremism on all levels," he said, adding in this regard that “we reaffirm that shared borders and their security levels are a shared task that we will not save an effort to carry out”. 

During the meeting, Tarawneh reiterated that the visit of His Majesty King Abdullah and the continuation of official visits at various levels give an indication to Iraq's stability in the political and security aspects.

Halbousi lauded Jordan's efforts in the war on terror, and Jordan's prominent role in supporting the security and stability of the region, recalling Jordan's continuous intelligence and security efforts to safeguard the interests of the two countries.

Later in the day, Tarawneh met with the State of Law Coalition Leader Nouri Maliki.

During the meeting, Tarawneh stressed that the upcoming period is an opportunity to build bridges of “serious and fruitful” cooperation between Amman and Baghdad.

Tarawneh, accompanied by a parliamentary delegation, arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday on an official visit upon an invitation from Halbousi, according to Petra.