South Africa to open Iraq embassy

Mr Mbeki said he wanted to help rebuild Iraq

South Africa is to open an embassy in Iraq, President Thabo Mbeki has said.

He made the promise in response to pleas from a visiting delegation of Iraqi politicians for South Africa to invest in Iraq.

He said the move would help Iraqis to learn from South Africa's experience of national reconciliation.

One of the Iraqi MPs said 80% of the country was safe and open for business. Thousands have died in sectarian violence in recent years.

"We should move urgently to open a South African embassy in Baghdad," Mr Mbeki said on Tuesday after meeting the Iraqi delegation, which included members of the recently elected parliament.

"We are very concerned that indeed there should be that peace and security, unity and reconstruction in Iraq," he added.

Iraqi government security advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie told journalists after the meeting that Mr Mbeki had "responded positively" to the delegation's request that South Africa open an embassy.

"In South Africa we can learn lessons of reconciliation, truth, justice and tolerance. You have been through difficult times and have pulled through. We will have the same success in Iraq," he said.

Mercenaries

The 12-member Iraqi group, which arrived in South Africa on Sunday, includes Sunni, Shia and Kurdish parliamentarians.

The delegation met Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Monday.

There are reported to be 8,000 South Africans working in the security industry in Iraq, many of them former soldiers or mercenaries.

The presence of South Africans working abroad in a paramilitary role for private companies has become a source of concern to the government.