FM: Syria not friendly with anti-American fighters in Iraq

Syria's Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara on Sunday rejected claims Damascus allowed to anti-American fighters crossing the border into neighboring Iraq. "There is a lot of exaggeration on the insurgency issue," Shara said in an interview with CNN television. "The insurgents, if they are crossing the Syrian border, they are crossing the Syrian border against the will of the Syrian government, no doubt about it.

"We are not friendly with (them)," he added, "because this is not the right way to help the Iraqis. "On the contrary, we are helping the Iraqis be united, go to the elections, to accept the political process," Shara said.

"All the Iraqi previous regime members are not welcome in Syria," he added. "But we have many Iraqis, I mean, many Iraqis are fleeing their country in order to be safe in Syria. "Many Christian Iraqis have fled Iraq, in order to be safe in Syria," he said.