Iraqi delegation visits Syria for border security, trade talks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iraqi government delegation traveled to Damascus on Friday for discussions on border security and trade. The trip comes amid reports an Iraqi national was killed in Syria and ahead of an Arab League summit in Baghdad that Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has controversially been invited to attend.

The delegation is led by the head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service and includes officials from the border forces command and border ports authority, as well as representatives from the ministries of oil and trade, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.

They are scheduled to meet with Sharaa for discussions on “counterterrorism cooperation and strengthening arrangements to secure the shared border against potential breaches or threats, expanding trade opportunities… and studying the possibility of rehabilitating the Iraqi oil pipeline through Syrian territory to ports on the Mediterranean Sea,” the statement said.

The Iraqi government has a strained relationship with the new authorities in Damascus. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s decision to invite Sharaa to attend the Arab League summit in Baghdad next month has sparked a backlash from his governing allies critical of Sharaa’s jihadist roots. A group of parliamentarians have petitioned to block the invite and key figures have called for Sharaa to be arrested if he enters Iraq.

On Friday, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said it was closely following the case of an Iraqi national reportedly murdered in Syria, saying it “attaches utmost importance to this file.”