UAE cancels Iraq debt, names new ambassador

"We appreciate the Emiratis' recognition that a secure and prosperous Iraq is in the interests of everyone in the region. Prime Minister Maliki and the government of Iraq should also be applauded for their continued outreach to their neighbors, and their efforts to advance a positive agenda through regional diplomacy," said Johndroe, who was in Japan with President Bush at the Group of Eight meeting of major powers.

In Abu Dhabi, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Abdullah al-Shehi, the UAE's former head of mission in India, was named ambassador to Iraq. The country said last month that an appointment was upcoming.

The UAE withdrew its ambassador to Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and after one of its diplomats was kidnapped and later released.

Sunni militant groups like al-Qaida in Iraq, mistrustful of the government, have warned Arab states not to open embassies in Baghdad. The capital's first major car bomb of the war struck the Jordanian Embassy, killing 19 people in the summer of 2003. Diplomats from Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Turkey and Sudan have all been either killed, wounded or kidnapped in Iraq.

Al-Maliki chided his Arab "brothers" at an April conference of Iraq's neighbors in Kuwait, saying he found it "difficult to explain why diplomatic exchange has not taken place." Most major Western diplomatic missions in Baghdad are located in the U.S.-protected Green Zone.

Iraq's deputy foreign minister, Labid Abbawi, said Sunday that the country plans to open consulates soon in Detroit, Michigan, and San Diego. He told The Associated Press they chose those cities because they have large Iraqi communities.

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Associated Press Writer Barbara Surk contributed to this report from Dubai.