Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi confirmed on Sunday that his country looks for developing wider relationships with Saudi Arabia.
His comments came during a meeting with a Saudi media delegation, currently visiting Iraq.
According to the prime minister office, Abadi told the Saudi delegation that bilateral relations between Baghdad and Riyadh are “on the right track,” and he called for expanding bilateral ties in all fields for the good of the peoples in both countries.
The Prime Minister urged boosting cooperation through the joint coordination council, which constitutes a base for promoting economic and trade relations, as well as exchange of expertise between the two nations.
Abadi also noted that his country managed to put down “political sectarianism,” now rejected by the Iraqi people.
Separately, an Iraqi criminal court sentenced on Sunday 15 Turkish women to death on charges of joining the ISIS terrorist group, judicial sources were quoted as saying.
Agence France Press quoted the sources as saying that all the 15 Turkish women have admitted belonging to ISIS.
The court sentenced another Turkish woman to life in jail, the sources added.
Reuters reported that the central criminal court issued the sentences “after it was proven they belong to ISIS and after they confessed to marrying ISIS elements or providing members of the group with logistical aid or helping them carry out terrorist attacks,” said Judge Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar.
Iraqi courts have lately issued a number of sentences against foreign women after accusing them of belonging to ISIS.
Last month, a German woman was sentenced to death for belonging to the terrorist organization, while a Russian fighter was also sentenced to death in Iraq last year for joining the group.
Last week, an Iraqi court had ordered the release of a French female extrimist, Melina Boughedir, who was arrested last summer in Mosul with her four children, saying she had already served her time.
