Syria has banned Iraqis without visas from entering the country, airline sources confirmed Saturday.
Syria quietly issued a directive last Monday banning the entry of any Iraqi who did not already hold a visa. Previously, visas could be obtained at airports or border crossings upon arrival, AP reported.
The new rules became apparent Friday after two Iraqis were prevented in Cairo, Egypt from boarding a Syrian Airlines flight to Damascus because they did not have visas. Syrian airport officials confirmed the rule change Saturday.
In another Syrian conciliatory gesture, the Al-Thawra government newspaper ran an editorial Saturday saying Syria is cooperating with the United States on many levels and trying to bring stability to the region.
It referred to Syria's recent proposal for a U.N. resolution on eliminating biological, chemical and nuclear weapons in the region.
"Isn't he who calls and works for lifting all weapons of mass destruction from an important region such as the Middle East standing with the United States and not against it as U.S. President George Bush says?" the editorial asked.
"Isn't he who fights against terrorism that sheds the blood of children and women, usurps their lands and rights and disperses them from their homeland standing alongside America and not confronting it?"
Meanwhile, three U.S. congressmen arrived in Damascus for talks Sunday with President Bashar Assad on the "road map" Middle East peace plan prepared jointly by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.
Reps. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., are on a Mideast tour that has also taken them to Palestinian territories and Jordan.
Rahall said they will discuss with Assad "the current situation in the region on the basis of our friendship with him over a number of years." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
