IRAQ: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem pledges his support for the Iraqi government in a landmark visit to Baghdad

Syria's foreign minister pledged his support for the Iraqi government on a landmark visit to Baghdad on Sunday (November 19) and said setting a timetable to withdraw foreign troops would reduce violence. It was the first time a Syrian minister has visited Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and comes amid increased talk of diplomatic efforts to involve Iraq's neighbours Syria and Iran in helping to end the violence ravaging the country. "Syria supports the political process and the elected Iraqi government and supports the efforts for national reconciliation," he said at a joint news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari. Syria has been accused by Washington of doing too little to prevent Islamist fighters from crossing the border into Iraq and fomenting a Sunni insurgency in the west of the country. But Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem rejected that. "Syria is hurt by the Iraqi bloodshed and it repeats the condemnation of all terrorist attacks that harm the Iraqi people and their institutions," he said. "We believe that a timetable for the pulling out of foreign troops from Iraq will help reduce violence in Iraq and maintain security," he added. U.S. President George W. Bush is under growing pressure to begin withdrawing the 140,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq more than 3-1/2 years after the invasion, but the Iraqi government has said the time is not right for them to go. It was a rare visit by an Arab minister. Many Arab governments have been wary of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led administration's close ties to Washington and to non-Arab, Shi'ite Iran. Since the U.S.-led invasion, of which Syria was a vocal critic, relations have been strained. Zebari said Iraq hoped to restore relations: "We don't expect to solve all the problems at once but we need a start." Iraq's government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said officials would press Moualem to do more to prevent al Qaeda militants entering Iraq, cut off sources of funding for diehard supporters of Saddam Hussein and end safe haven for Saddam's Baathists. Bush's allies have urged him recently to open the door to talks with Syria and Iran to seek their help in stabilising Iraq, where insurgent violence and sectarian attacks are threatening to tear the country apart.

ITN Source | November 20, 2006

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