Iraq's premier to visit Syria
The premier's office did not elaborate further on the top Iraqi official's agenda.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani on Sunday left Baghdad for Damascus, marking the first official visit to the country by an Iraqi premier in 13 years, according to a government statement.
The premier's office did not elaborate further on the top Iraqi official's agenda.
Al-Sudani is set to meet with President Bashar al-Assad during the visit, according to SANA, the Syrian state news agency.
The visit comes as Iraq, along with other Arab countries, has recently supported the reintegration of Syria into the Arab League, at which Damascus's membership was suspended following the onset of the country's 2011 civil war.
Syria's membership was reinstated in early May.
In early June, Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal al-Miqdad met Al-Sudani in Baghdad, where he had extended an invitation for the premier to visit Damascus.
It is believed to be the first official visit of an Iraqi premier to Syria since October 2010.
Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halboosi has previously visited the war-torn country, leading a delegation of Arab members of parliament.
Syria’s rapprochement with Arab countries began as early as 2018, when the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reopened its embassy, following years of tension between Damascus and Abu Dhabi. Assad and multiple high-level UAE diplomats have exchanged visits since then.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia joined its Gulf allies and other Arab countries in normalizing ties with Damascus.
Hosting an Arab parliament meeting in Baghdad in early 2023, Iraq reiterated its support for Syria’s reintegration into the Arab fold to resolve the country’s crisis.
More than 500,000 people have been killed as a result of the Syrian crisis, which dragged multiple regional and international actors into the conflict. Furthermore, millions of Syrians have been displaced by the bloody conflict.
Previously, the toppling of Assad and his regime had been a precondition for most of the Arab countries to normalize ties with the country.