Iraq has signed a formal security agreement with Saudi Arabia to combat al-Qaeda, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Thursday (March 15th).

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesperson Maj. Gen. Adil Daham told Al-Shorfa that a high-ranking Iraqi security delegation signed a joint security agreement with Saudi security officials in Riyadh Wednesday evening.

The agreement -- the first of its kind -- includes sharing security information, hunting down al-Qaeda, enhancing border security, drying up terrorist funding sources, monitoring people involved in terrorism cases, and implement arrest warrants between the two countries, he said.

Daham said both countries will share information that each obtains from arrests of al-Qaeda members. The two countries will form a joint committee that will hold regular meetings for this purpose, he said.

The agreement has already come into force, Daham said.