BERLIN, Aug 24 (AFP) - The new German ambassador to Iraq, Bernd Erbel, formally assumed his functions on Tuesday, the foreign ministry in Berlin announced.
Erbel, a former charge d`affaires, presented his credentials to President Ghazi al-Yawar.
Iraq`s new ambassador to Germany, Alaa Abdul Majid Hussain Al-Hashimi, will also assume his functions shortly, the ministry said.
The exchange of ambassadors opens the way for a meeting between al-Yawar and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin on September 9 while the Iraqi leader is on a European tour.
Erbel, 56, is an Arabic speaker and has studied Middle Eastern history. He has served in Riyadh and Cairo and in several different capacities in Baghdad.
Berlin and Baghdad have had diplomatic relations since 1974.
The last German ambassador left Iraq in 1991 at the time of the Gulf war and since then only local staff, helped occasionally by a German diplomat from Amman in neighbouring Jordan, have worked in the country`s mission.
Germany, which opposed the war in Iraq, reopened a mission with a charge d`affaires in 1999 but closed it down at the time of the 2003 US-led invasion. The mission was re-established after the interim Iraqi government took power on June 28.
A small team will work there but for security reasons no details have been given.