Syria denies free zone for commodity exchange with Iraq

London-based Middle East daily said today that Syrian economic sources denied news reports quoted from Baghdad that a commodity free exchange zone will be opened next Tuesday in al-Qayem city on the Syrian - Iraqi borders on the occasion of the 61st birthday of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

In statements from Damascus, the Syrian sources said, "The news is not precise, regarding the decision taken to establish the said zone nor in the details concerning it."

Meanwhile, the London-based al-Hayat daily quoted well-informed sources in Damascus as saying that the Syrian government is currently studying the establishment of a free trade zone with Iraq, noting ideas to establish several free zones near the joint borders, and expected the Syrian government to agree to a proposal to establish the free zone in the Syrian city of Deir ezz Zour, east of Syria.