Syrian Ministers in Iraq to Promote TiesTwo Syrian ministers arrived in the Iraqi capital by plane Monday evening for a visit aimed at promoting bilateral ties, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.During the visit, the two ministers, Transport Minister Mukarram Obeid and Communications Minister Radwan Martini, will hold talks with the Iraqi side on a free trade agreement that the two countries signed at the end of last month. Iraqi Minister of Transport and Communications Ahmad Murtadha Ahmad Khalil and Minister of Housing and Construction Maan Abdallah Sarsam welcomed the Syrian ministers and the accompanying 20-member delegation at the Saddam International Airport. The Syrian ministers' arrival coincided with the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to Syria aimed at shoring up the decade-old U.N. sanctions against Iraq. Powell arrived in Damascus on Monday evening and will hold talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Syria media have condemned the air raids against Iraq by the U.S. and Britain on February 16, in which two Iraqi civilians were killed and 20 others injured. Moreover, the mouthpiece of Syria's ruling Baath party on Monday slammed Powell for focusing on Iraq rather than Israeli "murders" of Palestinians during his tour, as more than 400 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed and thousands others wounded in their clashes with Israeli soldiers since last September. Syria is the last leg of Powell's Mideast tour, which has already taken him to Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian self-rule areas, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. |
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