TEHRAN -- In an interview published on Wednesday Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has criticized Arab states’ refusal to open their embassies in Iraq and to forgive Iraq’s debts.

“Unfortunately Arab countries are not in harmony with us...although we have urged their aid in all conferences,” he told Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram.
Many countries, except Arab countries, have opened their embassies in Iraq and have forgiven Iraq’s debts, he said, adding “but we had to pay the Arab states 30 billion dollars in compensation in a time we were in great need for money to launch Iraq’s reconstruction.”
The president stated that Iraq expects Arab countries to further support his war-torn homeland.
He added that he will pay a visit to Saudi Arabia after his trip to Egypt to hold talks with Saudi officials for further expansion of bilateral ties.
“We have asked Egypt to return its ambassador to Iraq by the end of the current year, and we have also planned to send our ambassador to Egypt by the yearend,” Talabani added.