Syrian President Bashar al-Assad expressed on Tuesday his country's support to the political process in neighboring Iraq, the official SANA news agency reported.
Assad made the remarks while meeting with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, stressing the need to intensify efforts and lay the groundwork for national reconciliation among various Iraqi parties so as to ensure Iraq's unity and independence and its Arab and Islamic identity.
Assad also strongly condemned the terrorist attacks that targeted Iraqis, institutions and holy places of worship.
Bilateral relations and security cooperation between the two countries, as well as the importance to strengthen economic ties and achieve economic integration between them were discussed during the talks, SANA said.
Maliki, who arrived in Damascus Monday morning for a three-day official visit with a high-level delegation, would continue talks with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara later in the day.
He also met with his Syrian counterpart Mohammad Naji Ottri and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem.
It was Maliki's first visit to Syria since he took office in 2006 and also the second time for him to visit a U.S. arch-foe within one month. Early in August, the Iraqi Premier paid an official visit to Iran, another U.S. arch-foe in the region.
Last November, Syria and Iraq restored diplomatic relations after a quarter century's rupture during former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime. The two neighboring countries severed diplomatic ties because Damascus sided with Tehran during the 1980- 1988 Iran-Iraq war.
Syria, which strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion against Iraq, has been accused by Washington of doing little to stop anti- U.S. militants and weapons from infiltrating into Iraq, an allegation denied by Damascus.
Source: Xinhua
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