Bahrain choosing ambassador to Iraq: FM

Bahrain confirmed on Sunday the appointment of a Jewish woman as its Washington envoy, and said it was setting up a new embassy in Baghdad, the latest sign of warming ties between Iraq and its Gulf Arab neighbors.

"We are currently choosing an ambassador. We have finished deciding where the embassy should be. We have an agreement with the Iraqi government," Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told a news conference.

"It just remains to choose the ambassador and as a result of the security situation it is ... not easy. For the person chosen or those who choose him."

United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan visited Iraq on Thursday, the first Gulf Arab foreign minister to do so since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have both promised to open up embassies in Baghdad and say delays are the result of logistics and safety concerns rather political considerations. The UAE also said it would name an ambassador soon.

No Arab country has had a permanent ambassador in the Iraqi capital since Egypt's envoy was kidnapped and killed shortly after arriving in 2005.

Jewish envoy

Also on Sunday, Bahrain's foreign minister confirmed that a Jewish woman would be its ambassador to Washington.

Houda Nonoo's appointment as Bahrain's envoy to the United States had been rumored by local media for months, stirring intense debate about whether a Jew would truly represent Arab sentiment regarding top U.S. ally Israel.

"Regardless of religion, first and foremost she is Bahraini, just as her father was, just as her grandfather was," Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told reporters.

Nonoo would become the first Jew to became an ambassador for a modern Arab nation, according to the Jewish Virtual Library website.

Bahrain, a U.S.-allied island of some 1.05 million people, is home to only about 35 Jews, but they are well represented in the business community and have served at senior levels of government.

Most Bahraini Jews trace their roots back to Iraqi emigrants, and at its height in the early 20th century Bahrain's Jewish community numbered at least 1,000 people. Most left after anti-Jewish attacks following the creation of Israel in 1948.

Bahrain has no official diplomatic ties with Israel, and last year an athlete running under the Bahraini flag was censured by the country's athletics association for taking part in a race in the Jewish state.