Iraqi officials use Syria instead of Jordan for their trips

The return of Iraqi trade minister Mohammed Mahdi Saleh home through Damascus and his meeting there with Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Mostafa Miro came to assure that Iraqi officials are no longer choosing the Jordanian capital Amman as a station to start and end their Arab and international visits.

Iraqi officials cannot use direct travel from Iraq due to the UN imposed sanctions.

Iraqi vice president Taha Yasin Ramadan left to Sanaa and came back to Baghdad through Syria and the same thing happened with Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf during his visit to Kuala Lumpur as he participated in meeting of the foreign ministers of the Islamic countries.

Iraqi sources in Amman considered this change towards Jordan as being a message to the Jordanian leadership in resenting the conformity of the Jordan with the U.S and British position against Iraq, yet Iraqi officials rejected this explanation and considered this change as a normal procedure.