ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s visit to Saudi Arabia has been postponed after the Saudi King was hospitalized in Riyadh, according to officials from the two countries. Faisal Bin Farhan, foreign minister of Saudi Arabia tweeted early Monday morning that Riyadh and Baghdad agreed to postpone Kadhimi’s visit to the capital after King Salman of Saudi Arabia was admitted to hospital for medical checks. “The Kingdom appreciates the choice of the Iraqi Prime Minister to visit it [Saudi Arabia] as the first country after taking the office. And in order to celebrate this extremely important visit and a desire to push to have successful outcomes, our rational leadership, in coordination with our brothers in Iraq, opted to postpone the visit until after the departure of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques from the hospital,” Farhan tweeted, referring to King Salman. The Saudi Royal office announced early Monday that King Salman of Saudi Arabia was hospitalized in Riyadh for inflammation in his gallbladder, according to a statement Saudi Royal office published by Saudi state-media SPA. Kadhimi’s office also released a statement on Monday confirming the postponement of the Iraqi PM's visit, saying they had spoken with Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman and wished Salman a speedy recovery. “Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi showed solidarity after receiving the news of the hospitalization of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, following an urgent health problem, which he entered the hospital to perform some tests for. He [Kadhimi] asks Allah for a speedy recovery to His Majesty,” the Iraqi PM office statement reads. “With a prior date for the visit of Prime Minister Mustafa to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it was decided to postpone the visit to the earliest possible date agreed upon by both sides,” the statement added. Kadhimi planned to land in Riyadh on Monday to meet with top Saudi officials, including King Salman, and crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman to discuss a number of matters, including the importing of electricity from Gulf countries into Iraq to increase the energy supply. Kadhimi was planning to follow his visit to the Kingdom with a trip to Tehran on Tuesday. Now his visit to Iran will be his first official visit abroad since coming into office. An Iraqi delegation led by Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi landed in Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh on Sunday to meet with Saudi officials and discuss bilateral relations, as well as increasing trade between the two countries, according to SPA. The Iraqi government seeks to finalize a deal to import 500 megawatts of electricity from the Gulf countries into Iraq. The deal, which aims to increase the electricity supply in Iraq and push Baghdad to be less dependent on Iran’s energy imports, was signed last year with the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA). Under the plan that has yet to be implemented, Iraq was slated to import 500 megawatts of electricity from Sunni Arab Gulf countries on the payroll of the GCCIA before this summer. Washington renewed its support for the deal on Thursday in an official statement, noting its readiness to provide “support where needed”. Iraq has long suffered from chronic outages and power shortages, in a country where summer temperatures reach 50 degrees Celsius. A damning economic crisis and severe shortage of electricity during the hot summer months has pushed Iraqis to the streets in protest in southern Iraqi provinces in recent weeks, demanding improved services and an end to corruption.
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