Iraq, Syrian leaders meet
DAMASCUS, Syria -- Iraq's embattled prime minister received a pledge from Syria's President Bashar Assad on Tuesday that Damascus is ready to help with efforts to stabilize Iraq. But the Iraqi leader conceded the two neighbors still face "real challenges."
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki described the talks Tuesday as positive and stressed the importance of having good relations with Syria. Both leaders emphasized that security was of utmost concern.
"We are not complimentary in our speech, (but) we want this visit to be a success and we are interested in stabilizing Iraq and improving its situation," Assad told al-Maliki at the start of the talks.
"Yes, we have mutual interests, and there are real challenges, we have to combine our stances to solve problems and to weave a network of good relations for both countries," al-Maliki responded.
Al-Maliki's three-day sojourn in Syria -- his first official visit here -- comes as part of his efforts to seek neighbors' help in stemming the violence ravaging Iraq.
The United States and Iraq have repeatedly accused Syria of failing to reign in the flow of militants and arms across the porous boundary into Iraq. Syria denies the allegations that it is fueling the anti-American insurgency, saying it is impossible to control the long desert border.
Damascus said earlier this month it had taken measures on its eastern border to increase security, including stationing fixed check points and border patrols and tightening measures on the crossing of people under the age of 30.
After the talks Tuesday with Assad, al-Maliki said he had insisted on the security issue and that the two agreed to find a mechanism for better border control. He described the talks with Assad as encouraging and giving "hope of cooperation and understanding."
"Without security nothing can be accomplished, and we also offered the possibility of companies to invest in Iraq," said al-Maliki, who lived in Syria in the 1990s as an exile from Saddam Hussein's reign.
But al-Maliki said he was not carrying a message from the Americans to Syria. On Monday, the White House said it thought al-Maliki would deliver a message to stop allowing foreign fighters to cross the border into Iraq.
"I came here carrying the message of Iraq, not messages from others," al-Maliki said later Tuesday after meeting with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa.
The Iraqi leader also pledged to help Syria on the increasing flow of refugees from Iraq -- about 1.5 million are living here, mostly in Damascus and the suburbs. The refugees are straining the country's education, health and housing infrastructure, officials say.