Baghdad and Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Iraqi leadership on Wednesday distanced itself from comments made by Nuri Al-Maliki, Iraq’s former prime minister and current vice president, in which he referred to Saudi Arabia as a “sponsor and supporter of terrorism.”

The comments, made by Maliki on July 17 on the Iraq-based Afaq TV channel, also called for the Kingdom to be placed under the “trusteeship” of the international community.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday, spokesman for the Iraqi Presidency Khaled Shuwani said Maliki’s comments were “his own and do not represent the opinions and official position of the Iraqi presidency.”

“President Fuad Masoum has made efforts and will continue to make efforts to establish and develop the best kind of relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He has previously taken this approach and will continue to do so, in full knowledge that this approach has produced positive results until now,” Shuwani said.

For its part, the Iraqi government, led by Maliki’s successor Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, also distanced itself from Maliki’s comments.

Abadi’s media spokesman Sa’ad Al-Hadithi told Asharq Al-Awsat “the Iraqi government’s position has not changed with respect to is relations with other countries around the world, especially . . . Arab and Muslim [countries], among them Saudi Arabia.”

He said the current government had, since it was formed last year, adopted new policies “aiming to open up to other countries and based on joint interests and countering regional dangers and challenges.”

Iraq’s government has been attempting since last year to “turn a new page” with respect to relations with a number of countries in the region in order to solve “longstanding issues,” he said.

These efforts are based on “mutual respect and the non-interference in the affairs of either party.”

Hadithi also pointed to recent visits made to the Kingdom by President Masoum and other Iraqi officials as well as efforts to reopen the Saudi embassy in Baghdad for the first time in 25 years.

Saudi Arabia suspended its diplomatic mission and shut its embassy in Baghdad after Iraq, then led by Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait in 1990.

The Kingdom appointed a non-resident ambassador to Baghdad in 2012, but relations between the two countries remained strained throughout Maliki’s premiership, which lasted from 2006–2014.

Gulf states accused Maliki and his Shi’ite-dominated governments of stoking sectarianism in Iraq by enacting policies which marginalized Sunnis in the country.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday criticized Maliki’s comments about Saudi Arabia. In a statement it said the comments “[fed] into the sectarian and denominational agenda at a time when concerted efforts must be made by all OIC member states to confront common challenges [and] combat terrorism, extremist ideology, and sectarian division.”

The global Islamic umbrella group said the comments were “absurd in light of the effective and significant role played by the Kingdom in combating terrorism and extremism at the national, regional and international levels.”