Syria recalls ambassador from Iraq

Aug 25, 2009, 15:33 GMT

Damascus - Syria has recalled its ambassador from Iraq to protest allegations by Baghdad that it is giving sanctuary to Iraqi former Baathist leaders involved in last week's deadly blasts in the Iraqi capital, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.

'Syria told the Iraqi side that it is ready to receive an Iraqi delegate to discuss the evidence Iraq has about those behind the attacks,' the ministry said in a statement.

The Syrian decision came shortly after the Iraqi cabinet said it had recalled its ambassador to Syria, Alaa al-Jawadi, for consultations.

Iraq has called on the Syrian government to hand over two former Baathist leaders suspected of being involved in the explosions.

'During its regular session held today, the cabinet has decided to ask the government of the Arab Republic of Syria to hand over Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed and Satam Farhan (to Iraqi authorities) for their direct involvement in the terrorist operation,' the spokesman for the Iraqi government, Ali al-Dabbagh, said in a statement.

Baghdad's Operations Command aired TV footage on Sunday night of an Iraqi former police chief confessing to a truck bombing at the ministry of finance, one of two attacks that hit the capital.

The suspect said he had received orders from two Baathist former leaders who were based in Syria.

Last Wednesday, some 10 explosions rocked the Iraqi capital, leaving more than 100 killed and 1200 injured. The blasts targeted government buildings, including the Ministry of Finance and the Foreign Ministry, which is located near the heavily-protected Green Zone.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited Syria last week for security and economic talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as wazs to stop insurgents infiltrating from Syria.

   Since the US-led invasion in 2003, Baghdad and Washington have repeatedly accused Damascus of not doing enough to curb the flow of fighters into Iraq.

Syrian Ambassador Nawaf Aboud al-Sheikh Faris was appointed last year, after Syria opened an embassy in Baghdad in 2007. Syria had not had an embassy in Iraq since around the time Saddam Hussein became president in 1979.