Staff Reporter.
Iraq’s prime minister has held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus during the first trip of its kind to the war-torn country since the 12-year conflict began.
Iraq and Syria have maintained close relations for years, even after many Arab countries withdrew their ambassadors from Damascus and Syria’s membership in the 22-member Arab League was suspended because of the brutal crackdown on protesters in 2011.
Assad received Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who was heading a high-ranking delegation, at the presidential palace in Damascus on Sunday.
The two leaders later told reporters they discussed fighting cross-border drug trafficking, the return of Syrian refugees and the imperative of lifting punitive Western sanctions imposed on Syria.
They also talked about Israeli attacks on the war-torn country and water shortages in the Euphrates, a river which cuts through both countries, because of upstream damming in Turkey.
Al-Sudani said they discussed ways to combat drought conditions in both countries caused by a reduction in rainfall, climate change and upstream damming by Turkey.
“We need to cooperate to get our fair share of water,” Sudani said.
Al-Sudani’s office said the talks also covered how to collaborate to fight “terrorism”.
“We are facing several challenges, first and foremost that of terrorism,” Assad later said at a joint news conference with Sudani.
The two countries, where Iran enjoys wide influence, have a joint 600km-long (373-mile) border.
In June 2014, the ISIL (ISIS) armed group declared the establishment of a self-styled caliphate in wide areas under its control in Iraq and Syria.
After a years-long campaign that left tens of thousands dead in both countries, ISIL was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in March 2019 in Syria. In recent years, Syrian government forces regained control of much of Syria with the help of Russia and Iran.
Earlier this year, Syria’s membership in the Arab League was reinstated and Assad attended the Arab summit that was held in Saudi Arabia in May.
Source: Fullview and News Agencies.