Syria names first ambassador to Iraq since 1980s

 AP 2008-09-16 16:24:03 - DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - The Syrian government has named an ambassador to Iraq for the first time since the 1980s, the state-run SANA news agency reported Tuesday. It said Nawaf Fares, who has been the governor of the southeastern Quneitra province, was sworn in before Syrian president Bashar Assad Tuesday. His appointment follows similar moves by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, reflecting the improvement of security in Iraq and the decrease in tension between the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iraq's predominantly Sunni Arab neighbors. SANA did not say when Fares will travel to Baghdad. Syria is home to hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who fled the violence in their country after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. Iraqi and U.S. officials have in the past accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq and join the insurgency. Syria has always denied the charge, arguing it is impossible to control the long desert border. Syria and Iraq formally restored diplomatic relations in November 2006, ending a 24-year break caused by charges made by the Damascus government that Iraq incited riots in Syria in 1982 blamed on members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Syria and Iraq were then ruled by rival factions of the Arab Socialist Baath Party, but Syria broke Arab ranks and sided with non-Arab Iran during its 1980-88 war with Iraq. Relations worsened again when Syria joined the U.S.-led alliance that drove Iraq's army out of Kuwait in 1991. The two neighbors further improved relations in December, when they agreed to reactivate an oil pipeline linking Iraq's northern oil fields with Syria's Mediterranean coastline.

The second round of indirect Israeli-Syrian peace talks is likely to be postponed as Tel Aviv is engaged in a serious political crisis. Citing Syrian sources, the Qatari newspaper Al-Watan reported Tuesday that the second round of peace talks which were set to be held in Turkey on Thursday will be postponed due to Israel's political situation. The sources however said Damascus has not yet received an official confirmation about the postponement from Turkey; although one is expected soon as the ruling Kadima party is to hold a leadership primary on Wednesday. While Olmert's ruling Kadima Party is tackling a power struggle, the premier is likely to be indicted over his corruption cases. Ehud Olmert, who has been grilled by a series of police investigations over receiving cash in bribes, announced in late July that he would not compete in the Kadima race and would resign upon the election of his replacement. Israel and Syria have so far held four rounds of the indirect talks over a schedule for Israel's withdrawal from the Golan Heights which was occupied by the Israeli regime in the 1967 Middle East War. Political experts however believe Israel's withdrawal seems highly because the Golan Heights is a militarily strategic region which is also regarded a significant water resource for the regime. SB/DT