Baghdad ? On Monday, King Abdullah II of Jordan became the first Arab head of state to visit Iraq since Saddam Hussein’s regime collapsed in 2003.

Iraqi officials heralded the brief and previously unannounced visit as a sign that their Arab neighbors finally were shedding their fear of a government that they had seen as religiously and ethnically divided.

“Our neighbors have started to realize and recognize that Iraq is on the road to recovery,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. “Their wait-and-see attitude and hesitancy has gone. This is a national unity government.”

The visit by the Jordanian monarch is a major step for the Shiite Muslim-led Iraqi government. Iraq has been largely isolated from its mostly Sunni Muslim Arab neighbors as violence skyrocketed and the influence of Shiite Iran became more pronounced. The United States has been urging Sunni Arab nations, including key ally Saudi Arabia, to upgrade relations with Iraq’s government to counter Iranian influence.

With a drop in violence, the landmark visit by King Abdullah could encourage other heads of states to come to Iraq.