Syrian measures on the borders with Iraq

Former Iraqi prime minister Eyad Allawi said that Syria has been taking measures described as important to prevent foreign fighters from sneaking via borders to the Iraqi territories.

Allawi, who arrived in Damascus on Tuesday evening coming from Beirut, called on the Syrian authorities to continue ensuring the security of borders.

Allawi, who will be meeting with President Bashar al-Assad today, said that the Iraqi and Syrian governments will work for dealing and containing crisis and eliminating terrorist phenomenon and operations. He simultaneously called the countries of the region to work in an integrated way to ensure the security of people.

Allawi's statements came one day after the US secretary of state Condaleezza Rice renewed accusations against Syria of permitting gunmen to cross the borders to launch operations against the American and Iraqi forces. In this regard, the Syrian state run daily Tishreen questioned the evidence which made Rice renew her accusations on a likely support from Damascus to what she called terrorists.