King Abdullah II of Jordan became the first Arab head of state yesterday to travel to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, though his trip was shrouded in secrecy because of security concerns and revealed only when he had headed home.

Despite lasting only four hours, the visit holds enormous symbolic significance for Baghdad as it struggles to prove its sovereign credentials away from the shadow of the United States. Iraqi officials hope that it will pave the way for greater engagement with neighbouring Arab states.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, said in a statement: “This visit will open a new page in relations between the two countries, which will help to maintain the stability and security in Iraq and all the region.”

He and the Jordanian monarch held “frank and positive talks” on relations between the two neighbours as well as progress on the security front and future reconstruction projects, according to a statement from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

Ties between Amman and Baghdad had been strained after the overthrow of Saddam, a fellow Sunni Arab. Jordanian officials had worried about the prospect of a pro-Iranian Shia government in Iraq as well as the loss of access to barrels of discounted oil, which Saddam once provided.

Such fears, however, appear to have abated. King Abdullah renewed his support to the Iraqi Government after the talks.

“Jordan is ready to stand at the side of Iraq to realise the wish of the Iraqi people for security, stability and prosperity,” he said in a statement.

Mr al-Maliki, a Shia Arab, has won respect at home and abroad for recent offensives against Iranian-backed Shia militias as well as the Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda that have helped to bring violence in the country down to its lowest level in more than 4 ½ years.

In a rekindling of ties with Jordan, Mr al-Maliki also agreed to renew a 2006 deal to sell discounted oil to its cash-strapped neighbour when he paid Amman a visit in June. Jordan relies on Iraq for most of its fuel.

The Jordanian authorities subsequently appointed an ambassador to Baghdad, where its embassy has been run by a chargé d’affaires since it came under attack in 2003.

Amman is one of four Arab states to name an ambassador to Iraq in recent months — a trend that has been encouraged by the United States.

General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, has travelled to a number of countries in the region over the past six months, including Jordan, in part to provide information about the situation on the ground.

“Iraq is really open for business now and frankly I think it is seen as a country to be engaged, not a country to be ignored,” he told The Times in an interview this week.

An Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman said that other topics of interest between Jordan and Iraq would have included trade and refugees.

Between 500,000 and 750,000 Iraqi refugees are living in Jordan after fleeing the violence that swept through Iraq between 2004 and 2007. Amman has estimated the cost of sheltering them to be more than $2 billion dollars (£1 billion).

Families, however, have started to return home after a decrease in attacks.

King Abdullah and his delegation, which included Nader Dahabi, the Jordanian Prime Minister, had been expected to travel to Iraq last month but their trip was delayed for security reasons.

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