Zeibari accuses Syria of not controlling borders; Damascus denies
Iraq-Syria, Politics, 9/22/2005

The Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiar Zeibari renewed accusations against Syria of not collaborating in what he called the fighting of terrorism, in contrary to its obligations towards Iraq.

In a meeting concerning Iraq held at the U.N. Security Council in New York, Zeibari said that there is a feeling in his country that the Syrian government does not have the political will to abide by these obligations, noting that most of the foreign gunmen who sneak to Iraq come via Syria.

The Iraqi minister called on his country's neighbors to stop what he called the terrorist expansion and for tightening border control according to their obligations according to U.N. security council resolution 1618.

The Syrian ambassador at the UN Faisal Miqdad refuted Zeibari's accusations, stressing that his country is doing all it can to stop the sneaking operations.

Miqdad told journalists in New York that Syria has the political will and it is very serious on this matter, noting that Syria had deployed 10,000 soldiers along its borders and spent millions of dollars to build a barrier so as what he called extremists will not cross into the Iraqi side of the border.

The Syrian official indicated he had met several days ago with the Iraqi president Jalal al-Talibani and no accusations against Syria were made. He added that relations between Baghdad and Damascus are not as bad as being expressed.

Previous Stories:
  Iraqi president appreciates Syria   (9/19/2005)
  Syrian official source-condemns Baghdad explosives   (9/15/2005)
  Baghdad joins Washington in attack against Syria   (9/14/2005)

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