Syrian PM seeks to improve ties with Iraq

[January 15, 2011]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- Syria's prime minister arrived Saturday in Baghdad for a two-day visit -- a major step toward improving relations that were strained by Iraqi allegations that the Syrians were harboring Iraqi insurgents.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Prime Minister Naji al-Otari arrived Saturday morning and was expected to confer with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other senior figures.

Al-Otari's visit is taking place less than a month after the Iraqi formed a new government after months of protracted negotiations following elections in March. Syria's official news agency said al-Otari will discuss cooperation between the two countries and congratulate al-Maliki on forming a new government.

Relations between the two Arab neighbors have been rocky for decades.

The two severed diplomatic relations in 1980 when they were ruled by rival wings of the Baath party. Syria supported Iran in its eight-year war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq that ended in 1988.

Syria, which is predominantly Sunni, and mainly Shiite Iraq decided to restore formal relations in 2006, and al-Otari visited Baghdad in April 2009 for the first visit by a Syrian head of government since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam.

But both countries withdrew their ambassadors in August 2009 after suicide bombers attacked the Iraqi foreign and finance ministries, killing more than 100 people. Iraq blamed the attacks on two insurgents and alleged they were living in Syria, a charge the Syrians denied.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group.

Al-Maliki visited Syria last October in a bid for regional support during the negotiations that produced a new government two months later.

[Associated Press; By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA]

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