Iraq will participate in the Syrian international trade exhibition

After 17 years of boycott, Iraq will participate in this month's Damascus international trade exhibition by sending 40 companies.

Qais Khafaji, the acting head of Iraq's chamber of industry, said that the companies' teams will travel to Damascus next week and attempt to conclude deals under the United Nations sponsored oil-for-food agreement.

The accord, which was renewed in June for a second six-month period, allowed Iraq to sell 2 billion US dollars of oil in exchange for food and medicine.

Also Qais expected Iraqi participation at a congress of Arab investors to be held in Beirut on October 7, despite the bad feeling that resulted when Lebanese officials refused Iraqi athletes' participation in last month's Pan Arab Games. At that time Iraqi officials cancelled a visit by an industrial delegation in protest of the move.

"This will be different, and we will see that the conference goes ahead," Adnan Qassar, the president of the Lebanese chamber of commerce, said.