MANAMA (AFP) - Post-Saddam Hussein Iraq is in a position to join the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), either partially or as a full member, a Bahraini minister said Saturday.

"I believe Iraq is in a position to join the PGCC, either partially or as a full-fledged member," Trade Minister Ali Saleh al-Saleh told reporters on the sidelines of a conference of Arab businessmen opened on Saturday by Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa.

Iraq "is a Persian Gulf littoral state and has already sat in regional organizations alongside the six PGCC members," he said.

Iraq was represented in specialized regional bodies, including one for the environment, before its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, a PGCC member along with Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

But there was never question of Iraq, a republic, joining the six Persian Gulf monarchies as a member of the PGCC, which was set up in 1981 in response to the Iraq-Iran war that lasted from 1980 to 1988.

Following the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam in April, PGCC states are aware of "the role that Iraq can play in the Persian Gulf," said Saleh, adding that Arab businessmen should take part in the reconstruction of the war-torn country. Iraqi and Palestinian businessmen are participating in the Manama conference, which will discuss over three days "the role of the private sector in building the future of the region."