Syria permits the entry of split Baathists from Iraq

Syria yesterday permitted the families of a group of political members who split from the Iraq Baath party who were stuck at the Iraqi- Syrian borders to enter the country after they were expelled from their houses in Baghdad following the collapse of the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein.

Witnesses said that women and children from the group were permitted to enter Syria after making contacts with the Syrian authorities.

Other members who had the right of political asylum in Iraq by the end of the 1960s are still stuck at Husseiba crossing on the Iraqi- Syrian borders since one week, including the former Syrian President Ameen al-Hafez.