Iraqi PM meets Syria's Al Shara in secret Doha talks
MENA
First known meeting addresses 'rapid developments' since fall of Assad regime
The President of Syria and Prime Minister of Iraq have held their first known meeting since rebels led by the formerly Al Qaeda-linked group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) took control in Damascus, it was revealed on Thursday.
The meeting in Doha took place on Tuesday, an Iraqi government official told The National. It involved Syria's President Ahmad Al Shara, Iraq's Prime Minister Shia Al Sudani and Qatar 's Emir Sheikh Tamim.
The three-way talks were not publicised at the time of Mr Al Shara's visit to Qatar. But the Iraqi News Agency revealed on Tuesday that Mr Al Sudani was also present for what it called a discussion on "rapid developments in the region, particularly the ongoing situation in Syria".
It said Mr Al Sudani said Iraq is "closely monitoring the developments in Syria" as he called for a "comprehensive political process" in the country. An administration led by HTS replaced former president Bashar Al Assad in December.
Mr Al Sudani made an appeal to 'protect Syria's diverse social, religious, and national fabric as well as safeguarding holy sites, houses of worship, and places of prayer", the agency said. It said the Iraqi leader stressed the importance of Syria 'taking practical and serious steps to combat the terrorist organisation ISIS".
Speaking a day later at the Sulaimani Forum in Iraq, Mr Al Sudani revealed he had invited Syria's President to attend the Arab Summit in Baghdad next month.
'Yes, a formal invitation has been delivered to him, and he is welcome to attend and participate in the Arab Summit,' Mr Al Sudani told The National 's Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi during a discussion at the forum in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.
The Syrian and Iraqi leaders have held one known phone call since the transfer of power in December. Iraq has long sought stability along its border with Syria, where ISIS remnants and drug trafficking networks continue to pose serious security challenges.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
5 hours ago
- The National
The Khor Abdullah waterway: Navigation deal or border surrender?
A 2012 agreement between Iraq and Kuwait regulating navigation in the shared Khor Abdullah waterway has triggered intense debate inside Iraq ever since, with critics warning it blurs maritime boundaries and threatens national sovereignty. Some opponents are calling to annul the deal, while others support renegotiation to safeguard Iraq's rights. Meanwhile, Kuwait maintains that its maritime boundary with Iraq, including navigation rights in Khor Abdullah, is firmly grounded in international law. Kuwaiti officials have repeatedly stressed that any attempt to revoke this agreement unilaterally is invalid and unacceptable. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged formal protests and called on Iraq to honour its commitments under binding international treaties, reaffirming Kuwait's sovereignty over its territorial waters and its right to shared navigation in Khor Abdullah. The issue of land and maritime borders between Iraq and Kuwait is highly sensitive among Iraqis with many viewing the border demarcation unfairly imposed by the US Security Council after driving Saddam Hussein 's army out of its neighbour in 1991 and say the country's weakened state at the time was exploited. It is equally sensitive from the Kuwaiti point of view due to the 1990 invasion, with concerns about Iraqi over-reach. The controversy has pitted Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani against the public, with critics accusing him of compromising the country's rights to Kuwait to secure regional support as he eyes a second term in office in November's national election. Some have gone as far as accusing Iraqi officials involved in the border negotiations of receiving bribes from Kuwait, without providing substantial evidence. Both Iraq and Kuwait claim exclusive ownership of the narrow canal, which curves around Kuwait's Bubiyan and Warba islands on one side and Iraq's Al Faw Peninsula on the other. Iraqis say it is named after a famous Basra fisherman, Abdullah Al Timimi, while Kuwaitis say its name derives from the second ruler of Kuwait, Abdullah bin Sabah, who ruled from 1762 to 1814. In early 2022, Iraq closed off the chapter of Kuwait compensation, paying its final war reparations, settling the $52.4 billion of claims made for damage inflicted during the 1990 invasion. What is the agreement and its purpose? Three years after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 833, which determined the land border between the two. However, the delineation of the maritime border was left to the countries themselves. In 2012, Baghdad and Kuwait signed the agreement and it was ratified in 2013 by the parliament in Baghdad. It aimed to regulate maritime traffic, environmental protection and safety within the estuary that forms Iraq's only gateway to the Arabian Gulf. The deal gives each country the right to control navigation and safety enforcement. It stipulates that the agreement 'shall remain in effect indefinitely' but can be mutually terminated with six months' notice. This also applies to amending it. Critics' arguments Critics – mainly legislators, independent politician and experts – argue that the terms of the accord implicitly draw a boundary, warning it could prejudice future maritime border negotiations and impose access controls on Iraqi ships, requiring Kuwaiti approval and fees. Amir Abdul Jabar, who served as transport minister from 2008 to 2010 and is one of the strongest opponents of the agreement, argues it is meant to delineate a maritime border rather than regulate navigation. Although the accord states that the agreement 'shall have no effect upon the boundary' between Iraq and Kuwait as demarcated pursuant to the UN Security Council Resolution 833 in 1993 at the creek, it gives Kuwait more control beyond that deep in the Gulf, Mr Abdul Jabar said. Article 2 of the agreement explains the term 'waterway' as the area from the point where the maritime channel at Khor Abdullah meets the international boundary between the points 156 and 157 heading south to the point 162 set by the Resolution 833 'thence to the beginning of the maritime channel at the entrance to Khor Abdullah'. 'So, the definition of the waterway in the agreement didn't stop at the 162 point – the one set by the UN Security General resolution,' Mr Abdul Jabar said. Article 4 stipulates that 'each party shall exercise its sovereignty over that part of the waterway which lies within its territorial water'. The essence of the objection, Mr Abdul Jabar said, is that it must not be applied on the area beyond the point 162 as Article 2 stipulates. 'How is it possible to divide the area beyond the point 162?' Mr Abdul Jabar said. 'We are not objecting to the [833] resolution even though it's unfair, but the government and parliament of 2012-2013 brought a new disaster [in signing this deal],' he added, warning that Iraq could lose future maritime entitlement to deeper Gulf waters and its natural resources known as the Exclusive Economic Zone. Mr Abdul Jabar had filed a lawsuit against Mr Al Sudani for 'blocking the court's ruling', by refusing to have copies of it deposited to the UN and the International Maritime Organisation. Ruling and controversy In September 2023, Iraq's Federal Supreme Court invalidated the law ratifying the agreement, ruling that it violated the Iraqi Constitution by lacking the required two thirds parliamentary majority for international treaties. Parliament had passed it by simple majority only. Shortly after the ruling, the GCC and US issued a joint statement in which they called on the Iraqi government to 'ensure that the agreement remains in force'. The Iraqi government has assured Kuwait that Iraq is committed to all its international agreements. Afterwards, Mr Al Sudani and President Abdul Latif Rashid have independently sought to reverse the ruling. These requests were withdrawn early this month and the agreement was sent back to parliament to approve in a two-thirds majority. It was a sigh of relief for the opponents. Many of them are now asking to annul the agreement by rejecting it inside parliament, while others are seeking to renegotiate it with an Iraqi team including experts, not only politicians. Protests across Iraq have continued, to reject the agreement in its current form. A public campaign is also set to be launched to collect signatures for a petition for the UN Security Council. Fadi Al Shammari, a political adviser to Mr Al Sudani, confirmed the Khor Abdullah agreement aims to regulate navigation and has nothing to do with border demarcation. 'Iraqi land is sacred, and there will be no leniency or compromise over any inch of it under any pretext,' Mr Al Shammari said, claiming that campaigns opposing the agreement are 'driven by political and electoral agendas'. Iraqis are divided about the agreement, although many of the Iran-backed political parties and armed groups are echoing the government stance. In an interview with a local satellite channel in May, the leader of the Asaib Ahl Al Haq group, Qais Al Khazali, blamed Saddam Hussein's banned Baath party for seeking to discredit the agreement by portraying it as 'giving up Iraq's borders with Kuwait'. 'Saddam was the one who sold it [the border] when he recognised resolution 833", a UN motion which set the land and maritime borders, he said. It is still unclear if the parliament will ratify the agreement or whether it will be left to the next parliament after national elections in November national elections. Kuwait is also in dispute with Iran over their maritime border and Al Durra offshore gasfield in the Arabian Gulf. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia say they have 'exclusive rights' to Al Durra and called on Iran to validate its claim by demarcating its maritime borders. Iran previously claimed a stake in the field and said a Kuwaiti-Saudi agreement signed last year to develop the field was illegal.
Dubai Eye
15 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
Russia's Putin meets Syrian foreign minister in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Syria's foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani in Moscow, the first visit by a top official from Syria's new government. Lavrov said Moscow would like Syria's new President Ahmed al-Sharaa to attend a summit between Russia and Arab League member states in Moscow in October. "Of course, we hope that President al-Sharaa will be able to take part in the first Russia-Arab League summit, which is scheduled for October 15," Lavrov said. Moscow has attempted to preserve ties with Syria's new authorities, including offering Damascus diplomatic support over Israeli strikes on Syrian territory. Putin received Shibani and his accompanying delegation at the Kremlin, Syria's state news agency SANA reported without providing further details on the meeting. At a joint news conference, Shibani said his trip to Moscow was intended "to start a necessary discussion ... based on the lessons of the past, to formulate the future". He said he had agreed with Lavrov on establishing two committees tasked with re-evaluating past agreements between Syria and Russia. "There are many opportunities for a united strong Syria, we hope Russia stands with us on this pathway," Shibani said. Lavrov thanked Syrian authorities for ensuring the security of two Russian bases in the country, where Moscow continues to maintain a presence, as well as backing the removal of sanctions on Syria.
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
Syrian foreign minister in Russia for first meeting since Assad's overthrow
Syria's foreign minister said his country wanted a 'correct and sound' relationship with Russia on Thursday as he visited Moscow in an apparent attempt to mend relations with the erstwhile enemy. In December, Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebels and he fled to Russia, which had been his staunch ally during the 14-year Syrian civil war. Moscow has had decades of close ties with Damascus, which deepened during its ultimately unsuccessful military intervention on Assad's behalf. These included several economic agreements. On Thursday, Syria's new foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, spoke with his counterpart Sergey Lavrov about maintaining agreements struck with Assad's government, as well as the future of Russia's military bases in the country. 'The relationship between nations is a historical and humanitarian one, but some governments are spoiling this relationship,' Shaibani said at a news conference. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'We are here today to represent the new Syria, as we want to establish a correct and sound relationship between the two countries based on cooperation and mutual respect.' He added: 'Of course, there are a number of factors that determine and complicate these relations on the ground.' Russia's naval base in Tartus and its airbase at Hmeimim are Moscow's only official military outposts outside the former Soviet Union. They were key to Russia's support of the Assad government, which prevented his overthrow for many years after the 2011 uprising. Lavrov said Moscow was ready to help Syria rebuild after more than a decade of devastating conflict and to review 'agreements and contracts concluded under different conditions', and said their decision to remain allies 'doesn't depend on the political situation or changes of government'. Neither minister said whether there had been any discussion of the status of the military bases. Assurances Despite providing a haven for Assad, Russia has quickly moved to try to build connections with the new government in Syria. Footage released in January appeared to show Russia removing vehicles and containers from its base in Tartus on the Mediterranean coast. Why Syria needs to play the long game against Israel Read More » Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa spoke for the first time in February, with the former saying he was ready to reconsider agreements signed between Russia and Syria under Assad. 'Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia's invariable readiness to help improve the socio-economic situation in Syria, including the provision of humanitarian aid to its residents,' the Russian presidency said at the time. Syrian Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra is also part of the delegation to Moscow. In February, he told the Washington Post that this government was open to allowing Russia to retain its bases if there were 'benefits for Syria'. The status of Assad, however, could remain a sticking point. Shaibani called on Russia to support a 'transitional justice' process in Syria, possibly referencing Assad's presence in the country. He also said Syria had formed a committee to review existing agreements with Russia. In January, Sharaa reportedly requested Russia extradite Assad. The Russian government refused to comment on the matter at the time. Israeli attacks Shaibani's discussions with Lavrov also touched upon Israel's recent attacks on southern Syria. Since the fall of Assad, Israel has repeatedly bombed Syrian military targets, and invaded even more Syrian territory than the Golan Heights it occupied in 1967. Earlier this month, Israeli attacks intensified, which Israel said were done in support of the Druze minority. However, the raids only raised communal tensions, which broke out into sectarian clashes that killed about 1,200 Druze and Bedouin Syrians. Speaking alongside Lavrov, Shaibani said that Israel's attacks on Syria posed a serious threat to his country's recovery 'These attacks not only represent a clear violation of international law and the UN Charter, but also disrupt the process of reconstruction, exacerbate the suffering of civilians, and fuel cycles of violence and instability,' he said. 'We have received a commitment from Russia to reject these attacks and stand with Syria to prevent these violations.' Lavrov concurred with his counterpart and called on members of the international community to help de-escalate the situation. 'We have always been against the use of Syrian territory as an arena for geopolitical conflicts to settle scores between various countries,' he said. Russia and Israel have had a close working relationship in Syria, where Israeli attacks repeatedly struck Hezbollah and Iranian-linked targets. In 2019, Russia helped recover the remains of an Israeli soldier buried in Syria.
