Iraq:
Syria?s President, Bashar al-Assad, is planning to pay a historic visit to Iraq in September, according to a report by the United Arab Emirates newspaper al-Itihad. The planned visit, as of yet unconfirmed, would be the first such visit for a Syrian head of state in twenty years. Perhaps more immediately significant, it would be the first visit of any Arab head of state to Iraq since Saddam Hussein?s defeat in the 1991 Gulf War and, moreover, from a state that was nominally a part of the anti-Iraq coalition during that confrontation.
Earlier this month, Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa Miro was in Baghdad for diplomatic talks with senior Iraqi officials. Al-Itihad quotes Syrian diplomatic sources as saying that the Syrian Minister was also in Iraq in order to lay the groundwork for the historic al-Assad visit. However, a senior Syrian representative in Baghdad, Muhammad Hassan al-Tawab, flatly refused to address the issue.
In a reciprocal visit of sorts, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan showed up unexpectedly in Damascus last week, as soon as al-Assad returned from his recent trip to Kuwait. The Iraqi news agency quoted Ramadan as saying, ?my meeting with President al-Assad was friendly and positive? and that the Syrian President discussed those items which were the subject of agreement during the Syrian Prime Minister?s visit to Iraq. The aim of the series of meetings, said Ramadan, was ?revitalizing joint Arab works between the two countries.?
Kuwait:
In the meanwhile, Arab press reports indicate that Syria is initiating efforts to bring reconciliation between Iraq and Kuwait. Those efforts were apparently a major reason for al-Assad?s official three-day trip to Kuwait last week. The Syrian President is apparently, according to reports, interested in developing relationships with both the Gulf States and Iraq.
Jordan:
In another first for Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has approved the sale of official and independent Jordanian newspapers in Syria. This is the first time in 20 years that Jordanian newspapers, other than a Nasserist opposition paper, will be allowed to be freely sold in Syria. The reason for the ban on other Jordanian papers until now was that Damascus viewed those papers as inclined to normalization with Israel. The Jordanian government, for its part, had already decided to allow circulation of Syrian newspapers in Jordan.
Turkey:
Another bitter rival of Syria is Turkey. One of the points of contention between the two states, and Iraq as well, is the division of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. A Syrian Minister, Taha al-Atrash, who was in Turkey for meetings with Turkish officials, told journalists that the purpose of his visit was to ?improve bilateral relations.? The Turkish Minister of State echoed the Syrian Minister by saying that the meetings were the start of a dialogue between the two states.
Syria?s President, Bashar al-Assad, is planning to pay a historic visit to Iraq in September, according to a report by the United Arab Emirates newspaper al-Itihad. The planned visit, as of yet unconfirmed, would be the first such visit for a Syrian head of state in twenty years. Perhaps more immediately significant, it would be the first visit of any Arab head of state to Iraq since Saddam Hussein?s defeat in the 1991 Gulf War and, moreover, from a state that was nominally a part of the anti-Iraq coalition during that confrontation.
Earlier this month, Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa Miro was in Baghdad for diplomatic talks with senior Iraqi officials. Al-Itihad quotes Syrian diplomatic sources as saying that the Syrian Minister was also in Iraq in order to lay the groundwork for the historic al-Assad visit. However, a senior Syrian representative in Baghdad, Muhammad Hassan al-Tawab, flatly refused to address the issue.
In a reciprocal visit of sorts, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan showed up unexpectedly in Damascus last week, as soon as al-Assad returned from his recent trip to Kuwait. The Iraqi news agency quoted Ramadan as saying, ?my meeting with President al-Assad was friendly and positive? and that the Syrian President discussed those items which were the subject of agreement during the Syrian Prime Minister?s visit to Iraq. The aim of the series of meetings, said Ramadan, was ?revitalizing joint Arab works between the two countries.?
Kuwait:
In the meanwhile, Arab press reports indicate that Syria is initiating efforts to bring reconciliation between Iraq and Kuwait. Those efforts were apparently a major reason for al-Assad?s official three-day trip to Kuwait last week. The Syrian President is apparently, according to reports, interested in developing relationships with both the Gulf States and Iraq.
Jordan:
In another first for Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has approved the sale of official and independent Jordanian newspapers in Syria. This is the first time in 20 years that Jordanian newspapers, other than a Nasserist opposition paper, will be allowed to be freely sold in Syria. The reason for the ban on other Jordanian papers until now was that Damascus viewed those papers as inclined to normalization with Israel. The Jordanian government, for its part, had already decided to allow circulation of Syrian newspapers in Jordan.
Turkey:
Another bitter rival of Syria is Turkey. One of the points of contention between the two states, and Iraq as well, is the division of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. A Syrian Minister, Taha al-Atrash, who was in Turkey for meetings with Turkish officials, told journalists that the purpose of his visit was to ?improve bilateral relations.? The Turkish Minister of State echoed the Syrian Minister by saying that the meetings were the start of a dialogue between the two states.