Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan arrived in Damascus on Tuesday for a previously unannounced visit, a day after Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's return from Kuwait, reports said.
Ramadan, who flew in from Yemen, was greeted at the airport by Syrian Prime Minister Mustafa Miro and the head of the Iraqi interests section in Damascus, Mohamad Rifaat.
He immediately met with Assad, in the presence of Miro, for talks on the results of the joint Iraqi-Syrian committee and agreements recently concluded between the two sides, the official SANA news agency reported, cited by AFP.
Ramadan was accompanied by Iraq's trade minister, Mohammad Mehdi Saleh, and transport minister, Hassan Khattab.
Ramadan is expected to discuss the issues broached during Assad's talks with Kuwaiti officials on his three-day visit to the emirate, the source said.
Kuwaiti officials have stressed that Assad did not attempt to mediate between Kuwait and Iraq.
"The visit was successful with regard to bilateral ties, but the issue of Syrian mediation between Iraq and Kuwait was not discussed at all," Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad told reporters earlier this week.
"The talks were economic and political in nature and had no relation with other countries," he said.
Kuwaiti Information Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al Sabah described the visit as "successful on bilateral ties, with a clear vision on inter-Arab relations and the situation in the region."
He denied that Kuwaiti-Syrian ties had suffered in light of the previous week's visit by Miro to Baghdad.
"Kuwait is pleased with any developments in inter-Arab and Arab-Iraq relations in economic and trade fields," Sheikh Ahmad said.
The two officials also rejected an Iraqi call for the Arab League to form a committee to resolve the issue of people Kuwait says are still missing from the emirate since the 1991 Gulf War.
"We deal with this issue within the framework of the UN Security Council resolutions and not that of the Arab League," Sheikh Sabah said.
"I believe (the Iraqi call) is an attempt to surpass international resolutions and to politicize this humanitarian issue. We stick to international legal channels and we cannot accept such political tactics," Sheikh Ahmad added.
The Cairo-based Al Gumhourriyah on Monday quoted Arab League chief Amr Moussa as saying there had been consultations among Arab foreign ministers on the Iraqi letter to the league calling for the committee.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said Sunday his country "did not know" of a Syrian move to reconcile his country with Kuwait.
Asked about press reports over reported Assad’s efforts to reconcile the emirate with Iraq, Sabri told AFP he was "unaware" of such moves.
He said that Miro "did not raise the issue" during his visit to Baghdad.
Assad's visit to the Gulf emirate, which had been postponed earlier, came days after Damascus and Baghdad's ties witnessed a remarkable improvement after more than two decades of enmity.
During his visit, Miro signed ten cooperation agreements with Baghdad. Earlier, the two countries had signed a free trade zone agreement, and a railway line had been activated.
Meanwhile, Kuwait and Syria last week signed three cooperation agreements on administration, agriculture and investment at the end of a joint ministerial meeting held in Damascus.
Over the past three decades, said AFP, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has granted Syria over $1 billion in loans for development projects, most of which came after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of the oil-rich emirate.
Syria fought alongside a US-led coalition which ousted Iraqi occupation troops from Kuwait in the Gulf War. But Damascus and Baghdad started to normalize ties in 1997 with the restoration of economic links.
In January, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al Shara renewed his country's support for the territorial integrity of Kuwait, in the face of renewed Iraqi claims - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
