UAE congratulates Iraq on power-sharing deal

President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan sent on Thursday a congratulatory cable to his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani on the occasion of the conclusion of a historic power-sharing agreement between various Iraqi parliamentary blocs.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, dispatched similar best wishes to President Talabani, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki, and Ayad Alawi, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Strategic Policies.

Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Ghurair, Speaker of Federal National Council, also congratulated Usama Al Najefi, the new speaker of Iraq's parliament on the occasion.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Foreign Minister, said the power-sharing agreement reached by Iraqi parliamentary blocs paves the way for a new era of a prosperous, stable Iraq that brings about welfare to its people and Arab peoples given Iraq's central importance and heavyweight at the Arab, regional and international arenas.