BREAKING NEWS

Egypt appoints ambassador to Iraq

Egypt appointed a new ambassador to Baghdad Tuesday, ending a four year hiatus after Cairo's chief envoy to Iraq was kidnapped and killed by al-Qaida, said a government spokesman. The president named career diplomat Sherif Kamal Chahine, the current envoy to Zambia, to the post, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki, without elaborating on when the appointment would take effect. Zaki said the move would restore "vitality and strength" to bilateral ties.