Syria says it will resume full diplomatic ties with Iraq

DAMASCUS, Syria (Reuters) -- Syria will upgrade its ties with Iraq to full diplomatic relations, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara said Wednesday.

He told a news conference that Syria was promoting relations with Baghdad in a step-by-step process.

"Over two years ago we started ties with our Iraqi brothers. It is not a secret that there is now an interests bureau (at the Algerian embassy in Damascus). This bureau will be developed to an office of full diplomatic relations," Shara said.

"We realize that these ties are very sensitive and we should succeed in building them step by step," Shara said.

Ties between the two neighboring countries, which are ruled by rival factions of the Baath Party, were broken nearly two decades ago because of differences over the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war.

Syria sided with Iran in its war against Iraq and later joined a U.S.-led multinational force that drove Iraqi troops from Kuwait in 1991.

But the two countries reopened their borders and started economic cooperation nearly three years ago within the framework of Iraq's so-called oil-for-food program with the United Nations.

They later reopened a railway link and announced plans to increase commercial exchanges to nearly $1 billion a year. Other measures include the imminent reopening of an oil pipeline closed in 1982 to pump Iraqi oil to Syria at discount prices.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See related sites about Middle East

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.