Syrian in Iraq for oil deals

A Syrian health official has arrived in Baghdad to pursue trade deals under Iraq's oil-for food deal with the United Nations, an Iraqi newspaper said on July 8.

They said Nai'il al-Nubulsi, deputy chairman of the medical industries council at the Syrian health ministry, headed a delegation representing leading Syrian medical firms.

Iraq and Syria decided last month to reopen their border for trade, closed since the beginning of the 1980s when ties were cut because Damascus sided with Iran in the Iran-Iraq war.

Syrian firms would organize a medical exhibition in Baghdad in cooperation with the Iraqi health ministry later this month.