The parents and lawyers of 64 Saudis languishing in Iraqi prisons have agreed on implementing several measures to ensure medical attention is given to their relatives, said Sami Al-Saleh, Saudi ambassador to Jordan.

“These mechanisms will constitute the baseline of our strategy in upcoming phases of negotiations,” said the ambassador.

A recent meeting of Saudi officials with the detainees, which lasted two hours, sought to ease the suffering of prisoners held without charge.

“We will take action through the Iraqi Embassy in Amman,” he said. “I will personally meet with the Iraqi ambassador in Jordan next week to discuss these issues, which will focus on emergency medical cases and prisoners detained without charge, in addition to lengthy periods of detention.”

“It is too early to say whether the meeting will yield positive results, but our meeting was amicable and conducive and we will continue to hold such meetings until we reach a solution,” he said.

According to Iraqi official figures, there are 64 Saudi prisoners between the ages of 18 and 72, all of them men. But there could be many more than that number, he said.

“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is keen on us reaching a reasonable solution to ensure the safety of Saudi citizens and put the minds of their loved ones at rest,” Al-Saleh added.