Iraq said Sunday that an armed Saudi national was killed in a clash between Iraqi border guards and an armed Saudi group that had “infiltrated Iraqi territory two days earlier.”
The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) said that the fight took place overnight Friday.
The incident was reported in a message addressed to Arab League chief Amr Moussa.
The dead man, Saed Motlaq Saleiby, belonged to an "armed Saudi group, made up of around 10 men carrying light weapons, who had penetrated Iraqi territory between the night of August 24 and 25 near Iraqi border posts," the message read, quoted by INA.
"The group then fell back into Saudi territory, abandoning Saed Motlak Saleiby, wounded by a bullet and who died after he was transported to a hospital in Samawa" in southern Iraq, the message read.
Iraq said it had contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to return the body to Saudi Arabia.
Baghdad accused the "Saudi authorities of being entirely responsible for this aggression," but vowed it would continue to respect the countries' shared border.
Baghdad also blasted Riyadh for continuing to support the US and British no-fly zones over southern and northern Iraq. US and British planes launched several air strikes on Iraqi air defense systems this August.
Baghdad has been under international sanctions since it invaded Kuwait in August 1990, before fleeing seven months later in the face of a US-led international force.
In June, Saudi Arabia accused Iraq of sending troops across its border on May 23 and opening fire on Saudi border guards, who returned fire, injuring an Iraqi soldier who later died of his wounds – Albawaba.com
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