Two Syrian ministers flew in Wednesday for the opening of the Baghdad international trade fair, joining a flurry of flights to sanctions-hit Iraq despite a UN air embargo, the official news agency INA reported.
Minister of state for cabinet affairs Hassan al-Nuri and Development Minister Hassan Shritah led a delegation including the president of Syria's chambers of commerce and several businessmen.
Sixty industrial, trading and pharmaceutical firms from Syria are taking part in the 10-day Baghdad fair, Shritah told INA.
It was the eighth flight to land in Baghdad since Tuesday for delegations taking part in the annual fair, which this year has attracted a record turnout of more than 1,500 companies from 45 countries.
Syria and Iraq have decided to reopen an oil pipeline linking the two neighbors later this month, in apparent defiance of sanctions slapped on Baghdad for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
