Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammad Mehdi Saleh held talks on Monday October 22 in Damascus with Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam on "bilateral relations between two brotherly countries," the official SANA agency reported.
The agency provided no further details on this non-scheduled visit. Saleh has already traveled to Syria several times recently and the two countries have signed a number of bilateral agreements, including the setting up in April of a free trade zone.
In September, Saleh had announced that Iraq's imports from Syria were set to triple in 2001 to reach $1.5 billion. raq and Syria, governed by rival branches of the Baath party, froze diplomatic relations in 1980 over Syrian support for Iran in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, but have recently stepped up their economic rapprochement. — (AFP, Damascus)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
