Damascus decided to open an office to supervise Iraqi interests
Syria-Iraq, Politics, 10/12/1999

Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Nabeel Najm on Monday inspected, during his visit to Damascus, the headquarters of the Iraqi embassy, which has been closed down since 1982, on Abu Rummaneh Street.

Meanwhile, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Suleiman Haddad said that Syrian authorities have decided to open an office for "monitoring the Iraqi interests in Damascus."

The Syrian deputy FM said following his meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Nabeel Najm that, "Syria is careful to find out a sort of contact between it and Iraq" and that it had taken a previous decision to open an office for monitoring Iraqi interests in Damascus. "This is what we had discussed during the meeting," he said, but the Syrian official did not set a date for opening this office.

Damascus and Baghdad severed their bilateral diplomatic relations and closed their borders at the beginning of the 1980s following exchanged accusations. The borders were opened in the middle of 1997 for "commercial and humanitarian" reasons.

Haddad stressed that his country "refuses any project that does not help in lifting the sufferings from the Iraqi people," in reference to the British-Dutch project debated by the UN Security Council.

Najm said Baghdad's opposition to that project is because "it will make of Iraq a protectorate run by foreign sides abroad," and that his country "will refuse any project that does not ensure an immediate lifting of the embargo imposed on Iraq for 10 years."

The Iraqi deputy foreign minister refused to comment on reports of projects to settle the Palestinians in Iraq as a price for the return of Iraq to the international family, saying: " I do not want to comment" on this matter, especially as, "Baghdad has a clear stand towards settling the Palestinians," as it considers "Palestine to be its own territory as a state."

He announced that Syria's share of the oil-for-food and medicine formula will be increased in the coming phase. He said there are "deepened discussions between the two sides to raise the volume of Iraq's exports from Syria."

At the end of last year, Syria and Iraq opened two trade offices in each other in order to promote bilateral trade.

Previous Stories:
  Iraqi minister of trade: $300 million in transactions with Syria   (9/28/1999)
  Syrian exports to Iraq reach US $250 million   (9/13/1999)
  Syrian, Iraqi health relations discussed   (8/30/1999)

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