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Iraq-Saudi border crossing reopens after 30 years

The Arar crossing has remained closed since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
An Iraqi woman stands at passport control as she waits to have her passport stamped at the Arar southern Iraqi border crossing with Saudi Arabia on November 11, 2009. A group of Iraqi Shiite Muslim pilgrims left their homes in the city of Karbala to join an overland tour that will taken them to the Saudi holy city of Mecca where they will take part in the annual Hajj or pilgrimages.  AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED SAWAF (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images)

The Arar border crossing linking Iraq and Saudi Arabia has reopened for trade after a 30-year closure, Iraq's border authority said Wednesday.

The Saudi-Iraqi border crossing was closed in the 1990s after Saudi Arabia severed ties following Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's invasion of neighboring Kuwait. The crossing has remained closed, with exceptions made for Iraqis to cross to Mecca for the annual hajj pilgrimage. 

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