Saudi Arabia has confirmed that it has given the go-ahead for a trade fair in Baghdad.

The fair, leading Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat said, is scheduled for 1-11 November.

It will be the first time Saudi businesses have had official sanction to set up shop in the Iraqi capital since the two nations broke ranks ahead of the 1991 Gulf War.

"We have received confirmed bookings from 45 Saudi firms to participate and we expect the number to reach at least 60 to 70 firms," Ibrahim Foudah, head of the state-supervised Saudi Exports Centre, told Reuters.

Big names

Among the firms, Asharq al-Awsat reported, is Sabic, the state-controlled petrochemicals giant.

Also on the list - and confirming the impression that the bluest of Saudi blue-chips now have a green light to trade with Iraq - is Olayan, one of the most powerful private companies in the kingdom.

Earlier this month, Iraqi news agencies said that other sectors represented would include medical equipment, food processing, electrical and textiles.

Under United Nations sanctions, Iraq's trade is limited to goods sold under the oil for food programme, which allows the country to import humanitarian supplies.

Trade with Iraq under the UN regime brought in 255 million riyals ($68m) for Saudi firms in the first six months of this year, according to the Saudi Export Development Centre.

All official trade currently has to pass through Jordan or the United Arab Emirates, but Saudi businesses are indicating that the land border - closed since 1990 - could soon be reopened.

At odds

The fair appears to provide further evidence of official Saudi disapproval of the US-led push to attack Iraq.

A Saudi boycott of US goods and lawsuits bought by Americans who allege Saudi collusion with terrorist groups has however damaged relations.

Saudi Arabia has long been the US' most important Arab ally and made military bases available to US forces in the 1991 war to dislodge Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

But the country has made it clear that a repeat performance is off the cards.