Syria reaches out to Iraq leadership
September 10. 2010
DAMASCUS - Syria and the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al Maliki have resumed direct contact more than a year after the Iraqi leader cut links, claiming that Damascus was harbouring insurgents.
The Syrian prime minister Mohammad Najri Otri telephoned Mr al Maliki on Thursday evening, the first direct communication between the Syrian government and the Iraqi prime minister since August 2009.
The men discussed political and economic relations, according to a statement released by the Iraqi prime minister’s office.
Syrian sources confirmed the phone call had taken place but provided no further details.
Mr al Maliki cut ties to Damascus on August 19, 2009, the day after bombs devastated Iraq’s finance and foreign ministries, killing 95 people and wounding 1,000 others.
The Iraqi prime minster accused Syria of providing a safe haven for members of the outlawed Baath party, which he said had planned the so-called Black Wednesday attacks.
Syria denied the allegations but Mr al Maliki recalled the Iraqi ambassador, Alaa al Jawadi, in protest. Mr Jawadi had been sent to Damascus only six months earlier, the first ambassador there in more than 20 years.
The rapid collapse in relations was all the more stark because just 24 hours before the bombings, Mr al Maliki had been in Damascus for a meeting with Syria’s president Bashar Assad.
The two leaders had agreed to form a joint security council and discussed economic deals, including gas and oil pipelines. The meeting was hailed as a new dawn in Baghdad-Damascus relations. The countries were enemies throughout the rule of Saddam Hussein.
Mr al Maliki’s allegations against Syria, and his request that the UN Security Council investigate the bombings, were taken as an affront in Damascus. As an exiled opponent of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi prime minister had lived as a guest in Syria for years.
Although Mr al Maliki blamed Damascus for the Black Wednesday attacks, other senior Iraqi government officials, including the president Jalal Talabani and the foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari, refused to do the same.
September 10. 2010
DAMASCUS - Syria and the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al Maliki have resumed direct contact more than a year after the Iraqi leader cut links, claiming that Damascus was harbouring insurgents.
The Syrian prime minister Mohammad Najri Otri telephoned Mr al Maliki on Thursday evening, the first direct communication between the Syrian government and the Iraqi prime minister since August 2009.
The men discussed political and economic relations, according to a statement released by the Iraqi prime minister’s office.
Syrian sources confirmed the phone call had taken place but provided no further details.
Mr al Maliki cut ties to Damascus on August 19, 2009, the day after bombs devastated Iraq’s finance and foreign ministries, killing 95 people and wounding 1,000 others.
The Iraqi prime minster accused Syria of providing a safe haven for members of the outlawed Baath party, which he said had planned the so-called Black Wednesday attacks.
Syria denied the allegations but Mr al Maliki recalled the Iraqi ambassador, Alaa al Jawadi, in protest. Mr Jawadi had been sent to Damascus only six months earlier, the first ambassador there in more than 20 years.
The rapid collapse in relations was all the more stark because just 24 hours before the bombings, Mr al Maliki had been in Damascus for a meeting with Syria’s president Bashar Assad.
The two leaders had agreed to form a joint security council and discussed economic deals, including gas and oil pipelines. The meeting was hailed as a new dawn in Baghdad-Damascus relations. The countries were enemies throughout the rule of Saddam Hussein.
Mr al Maliki’s allegations against Syria, and his request that the UN Security Council investigate the bombings, were taken as an affront in Damascus. As an exiled opponent of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi prime minister had lived as a guest in Syria for years.
Although Mr al Maliki blamed Damascus for the Black Wednesday attacks, other senior Iraqi government officials, including the president Jalal Talabani and the foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari, refused to do the same.
That added to Syrian suspicions that the accusations were politically motivated. Mr al Maliki was facing reelection at the time and his campaign boasted about its record of improving security.
While there had been no personal contacts between the Iraqi prime minister and senior Syrian officials before Thursday’s phone call, lines of communication had nonetheless remained open.
Iraqi government delegations had visited Damascus on official business and, since Iraq’s March elections, members of Mr al Maliki’s State of Law coalition have held talks with the Syrian authorities.
Those discussions, and Syria’s role in mediating between other Iraqi factions following the inconclusive ballot, had fuelled speculation that Damascus was preparing to host a conference to help form a new Iraqi government. Mr al Maliki dismissed those rumours.
The conference may now be back on the agenda, said Fadil al Rubaie, an Iraqi analyst who lives in Damascus.
“Syria wants to keep official government to government ties intact,” he said. “It also wants to have connections with all of the political groups, including Mr al Maliki’s.
“It may be this paves the way for a big meeting of the Iraqi factions in Damascus under Syrian patronage.”
The Qatar News Agency, quoting an unnamed “senior Iraqi source” yesterday reported that Mr Otri had invited Mr al Maliki to Damascus.
Iraq has been without a new government for more than six months, with groups unable to strike a deal on forming a ruling coalition.
