Al-Assad confers with Karroubi on Iraq, developments

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad received on Monday Speaker of the Iranian Islamic Shura Council, Mehdi Kerroubi and an accompanying Delegation.

People's Assembly Speaker, Mahmoud al-Abrash and Iranian Ambassador in Damascus attended the meeting.

Discussions dealt with developments of conditions in each of Iraq and the Palestinians territories.

A source at the Iranian embassy in Damascus said that Kroubi discussed with President al-Assad the need of the withdrawal of the American forces from Iraq. He said that helping the Iraqi people to assume supporting themselves would contribute to achieving security and stability in the region. Karoubi had arrived in Damascus earlier in the day leading a political and parliamentary delegation in a visit to Syria that will last for three days after which he will be moving to Lebanon.

As for the American accusations against Iran and Syria, Karoubi said "that stances proclaimed by Iran and Syria in support of the Palestinian Arab people, in rejection of the American hegemony on the region, are the reasons behind these elections," describing the American policy as unbalanced and having caused troubles to the American people and the people of the region.

For his part, the speaker of the Syrian parliament al-Anrash said that the good Syrian- Iranian relations have annoyed "some" because "they are ( the two countries) are standing against the policy of hegemony against the region and support the struggle mounted by the Palestinian people to restore back their rights and liberating their lands and establishing their own independent state.