Syrian measures to stop smuggling through borders with Iraq

Iraqi opposition sources told the London-based al-Hayat daily in Damascus that the Syrian government has recently taken "strong measures to prevent smuggling on the Syrian-Iraqi borders" which were opened in 1997.

The sources said there was an increase in the activity of the Iraqi opposition during the recent months and the contacts made by leaders of the national movement and the representatives of the Baath Party, who are close to Damascus, with other sides in order to move for "proposing a project to change the Iraqi regime."

During his visit to Damascus in March, the US Undersecretary of State for Middle East Affairs Martin Indyk raised the question of Iraq with the Syrian officials, stressing the importance of honoring UN Security Council resolutions.

The departments for supervising the Iraqi and Syrian interests in the Algerian embassies in Damascus and Baghdad have not opened yet, in line with what had been agreed upon between the Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa and Iraqi FM Muhammad Saeed al-Sahaf.