Iraq's vice president calls for Arab efforts to help end Iraqi crisis

Visiting Iraqi Vice President Tarek al-Hashemi Monday called for Arab and regional efforts to help end the crisis of Iraqis, Syrian official SANA news agency reported.

"The situation in Iraq becomes part of the Arab national security, so the Arab and regional efforts must be rallied to put an urgent and suitable end to crisis of the Iraqis at this stage that guarantees stability of the situation in Iraq in particular and in the region in general," Hashemi was quoted as saying.

The Iraqi vice president made the remarks upon arriving here earlier in the day on an official visit to Syria at the invitation of his Syrian counterpart Farouk al-Shara.

Hashemi said his visit came within the framework of visits to Arab capitals to discuss issues of common interests, especially the Iraq issue, while underlining the importance of bilateral relations between the two countries.

"Syria, as a sister and neighboring country, has joint interests with Iraq regarding the political, economic, social, and security files," he added.

"We are looking for remarkable results of this visit in all domains and we will review with senior Syrian officials many topics on the necessity to push bilateral relations to advanced stages ...so as to help and save the Iraqis from the tough situation they are facing," he said.

Hashemi would hold talks with senior Syrian officials on the latest developments in the region, particularly the situation in Iraq and bilateral relations, the report said.

The visit came just days before a highly-anticipated conference in Baghdad which would host Iraq's neighboring countries, including Syria and Iran, and other world powers on March 10 in a bid to rally support to stabilize the war-wracked country.

Damascus and Baghdad restored diplomatic ties last November after a quarter-century's rupture. Senior Iraqi officials have paid several visits to Damascus ever since.

In January, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani paid a landmark visit here in which he signed a joint statement with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on improving bilateral relations in all fields.

The two countries severed diplomatic relations in the 1980s when Syria sided with Tehran during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war.

Damascus has been accused of doing too little to stop militants and weapons from infiltrating into Iraq and inflaming chaos there. But Syria has insisted that it has done its best to control the long and porous common borders.

Source: Xinhua