There is now increasing hope that Saudi Arabia would secure the release of 71 citizens held in Iraq for 15 years, said Abdullah Al-Saleh, the Saudi ambassador in Jordan, recently.

Relations have started to thaw with Iraq, with Saudi Arabia soon opening an embassy in that country, he said.

Al-Saleh was quoted as saying in a local publication that he was working with his Iraqi counterpart in Jordan on this matter, with a satisfactory outcome expected soon.

The Saudis are not members of the Islamic State group. However, several were affiliated to Jihad’s Base in Mesopotamia, the group commonly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which was founded in 1999 by Jordanian Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, which later developed into the Islamic State group.

“The embassy here in Jordan hopes the cases will soon be closed following the announcement of the re-opening of our diplomatic mission in Baghdad and the establishment of a general consulate in Erbil in the north.”

He said he met with the Iraqi ambassador several times to follow up on the conditions of the prisoners through the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Al-Saleh said he met with a representative of the Red Cross at the embassy, where the latter promised to provide reports on the prisoners. This showed that the Iraqi government was committed to improving the conditions of the prisoners, he said.

He said the royal court in the Kingdom has set up a special committee to handle the cases of the prisoners. The Saudi government wants to ensure the committee starts tackling various issues “as soon as possible.”

Al-Saleh said the government has given its approval for the prisoners to meet their families, in coordination with the Saudi Red Crescent and its Iraqi counterpart. Efforts were now underway to transfer all of them to prisons in Kurdistan.

He said the two nations’ justice ministries have signed an agreement for an exchange of prisoners. “The Kingdom has already met the legal requirements of the agreement,” said the ambassador.

An Iraqi security committee recently stated that there were 71 Saudis held in prisons across the country including Susa jail in Sulaimaniya and Badush prison in Mosul, before the Islamic State group took control of the city last summer. In addition, others were being held in two prisons in Baghdad and Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.

Among the 71 prisoners, 15 are facing trial, 24 were tried before the courts, with 20 convicted and one executed.

The Saudi Ministry of Interior revealed recently that 2,248 Saudis have left the Kingdom to fight in conflict zones, with only 654 returning home.