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Iraq praises Syrian cooperation in boosting security
AFP, December
12, 2007
DAMASCUS, Dec
12, 2007 (AFP) - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on
Wednesday praised Syria's efforts to stop the flow of
fighters into his war-torn country, saying the security
situation in Iraq was improving.
"There is
better security cooperation on the part of Syria to help the
Iraqi government to police the (Syria-Iraq) border and to
prevent the movement of fighters" into Iraq, Zebari told a
news conference in Damascus.
"The security
situation in Iraq has started to improve. We appreciate the
measures taken by Syria," he said at the joint conference
with Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem without specifying the
nature of the measures.
"The data on
the ground shows a drop in the movement of members of
criminal gangs and terrorists in Iraq, because of the
(Syrian) application of these measures."
The comments
came as three car bombs killed at least 25 people and
wounded 151 in the southern Iraqi Shiite city of Amara,
dealing a blow to British and Iraqi claims of achieving
stability in the south of the country.
Syria has
frequently been accused of failing to do enough to stem the
flow of fighters and arms into Iraq -- a claim Damascus has
strongly denied.
The number of
foreign combatants with Al-Qaeda ties in Iraq has fallen in
recent months, top US commander David Petraeus said in late
November, thanks largely to "more robust" interdiction
efforts by Syria.
President
Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday gave assurances of Syrian support
for national reconciliation in Iraq and the strengthening of
Iraqi institutions, the state news agency SANA said.
Zebari said he
"appreciated the enormous help provided by Syria" to
accommodate the 1.4 million Iraqi refugees who fled the
violence following the 2003 US-led invasion.
He also said
Iraq and Syria could develop their economic ties and added
that a Syria-Iraq oil pipeline connecting Baniyas to Kirkuk,
which was closed in 2003, would now be reopened.
"Offers have
been presented to companies to this effect," he said, adding
that Syrian firms would be able to take part in Iraqi
reconstruction.
Zebari said the
two countries are close to naming ambassadors. They only
restored diplomatic ties in November 2006, 26 years after
they were broken by the Saddam Hussein regime over Syrian
support for Iran in its eight-year war with Iraq. |
