Syria is reconsidering its candidate for the next prime minister of Iraq in the hope of reaping political and economic gains, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made an unannounced trip to Syria on Saturday, stopping off for talks with the country's president, Bashar Al-Assad, at Damascus airport on his way to Algeria for an official visit. Some observers have speculated that the visit could have been connected to earlier visits to the country by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and French envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran. However, according to a press release from the Syrian presidency, the brief one-hour meeting between the two presidents dealt with "bilateral relations and the need to increase economic and development cooperation between the two countries, especially on strategic issues," as well as "the importance of ending the stalemate in Iraq and forming a government in order to maintain Iraq's unity, stability and security and rebuild the country so it can regain its role in the Arab and regional arenas and enhance regional economic cooperation." It is this second subject that has most intrigued observers, with commentators on Syrian-Iranian relations saying that the two countries are close to agreement on a common strategy towards Iraq's government. The details of this agreement will be revealed over the coming weeks or days, observers says, with reports claiming that the agreement could be based on Syria's agreement that Nuri Al-Maliki, the caretaker Iraqi prime minister who heads the country's State of Law Coalition bloc, should be allowed to form the new Iraqi government after a seven-month stalemate since the inconclusive March 2010 elections. Syria had previously rejected Al-Maliki as head of the Iraqi government, since he had earlier launched a campaign against the country, accusing Syria of harbouring Iraqi Baathists who had masterminded a bombing campaign in Iraq in August 2009 that had targeted Iraqi government buildings, leaving hundreds killed or injured. Al-Maliki had demanded that Syria hand alleged Baathist exiles in the country over to Iraq and had called on the UN to form an international commission to investigate Syria's alleged role in the attacks. As a result, Syria and Iraq withdrew their ambassadors from each other's capitals. When the results of the March elections in Iraqi were announced, Syria backed the Al-Iraqiya List led by former prime minister Iyad Alawi over other blocs. However, more recently Syria seems to have been having a change of heart over Al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition, with rumours of a switch in Syrian support circulating since the beginning of September. Media outlets close to the Syrian regime have reported that the country is no longer averse to seeing Al-Maliki as the next prime minister of Iraq, but that it is awaiting an apology from him for his earlier accusations directed against Syria. The Syrian media have hinted that this apology may have been delivered to Al-Assad by a spokesman of the Iraqi government during a visit to the country. A week before Ahmadinejad's arrival in Damascus, Syrian prime minister Mohamed Naji Ettri contacted Al-Maliki in order to review bilateral relations between the two countries, with Ettri emphasising "the need to work on developing ties between the two countries in the coming phase, in order to meet the interests of both peoples." While this contact was not publicised by Syria, it was made public by Iraq, and a few days later Ettri confirmed that a telephone conversation had taken place, predicting that relations between Syria and Iraq would take off in order to serve the interests of both countries. Some figures in official Syrian circles have described the call as "an act of reconciliation" between Al-Maliki and the Syrian leadership, especially since this is the first high-level contact between the two countries since relations between them were frozen in 2009. In another development, the Syrian ministry of petroleum has signed an agreement with its Iraqi counterpart to allow oil pipelines to be built from Iraq across Syrian territory to the Mediterranean Sea, in order to export Iraqi oil. According to the agreement, there would be two pipelines, the first having a capacity of 1.5 million barrels of heavy oil a day and the other a capacity of 1.25 million barrels of light oil a day. A third pipeline may also be added to transport natural gas. Some reports have indicated that Iraq intends to raise its oil production to 12 million barrels a day, competing with Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer. This is not a purely economic deal, and political opportunities have not been missed, with a spokesman from the Syrian foreign ministry describing the agreement to transport Iraqi oil and gas across Syrian territory as "an important step in developing relations between our two countries and activating economic cooperation". A few days before Ahmadinejad's visit to Damascus, Al-Assad received an unpublished message from Al-Maliki, delivered by a delegation from the State of Law Coalition, the first visit by the Coalition to Syria since the Iraqi elections seven months ago. In reply, Al-Assad assured the bloc of Syria's "keenness to maintain the best possible relations with Iraq" and reiterated his support "for any agreement that is based on maintaining Iraq's unity and the country's Arab identity and sovereignty." After meeting with Al-Assad, the head of the delegation, Sheikh Abdel-Halim Al-Zuheiri, an advisor to Al-Maliki, described Iraq's ties with Syria as "strategic" and "based on joint interests, because Syria's security is Iraq's security". Al-Zuheiri insisted that "there was no crisis in relations between the State of Law Coalition and Syria. On the contrary, relations are normal and good. There have been some statements by some politicians, but we have now moved beyond these," Al-Zuheiri said. He denied that either party had demanded an apology from the other, in an indirect response to reports in the Syrian media. Ezzat Al-Shabandar, a leading member of the State of Law Coalition, said in Damascus that Al-Maliki's leadership of the next Iraqi government was "becoming more and more acceptable in regional and Arab circles." Al-Malki would visit Syria soon, he said, but did not give details. Hassan Al-Saneed, another member of the delegation, stated that the coalition had the "constitutional right" to form the new Iraqi government and that Al-Maliki would "look into forming the new government once the delegation returns from Syria." Meanwhile, informed Iraqi sources in the Syrian capital indicated that differences between Tehran and Damascus over who should be Iraq's next prime minister have been resolved, indicating that a similar agreement had been reached between the US and Iran. The sources said that the US and Iran had agreed that Al-Maliki should remain prime minister of a cabinet that included members of other Iraqi political blocs, distributed according to a quota system. Syria had agreed to this formula in return for a solid economic partnership between Damascus and Baghdad and for economic privileges in Iraq, with the projected pipelines being a gesture of goodwill in this regard. Syria also wants to build strong political ties between the two neighbouring states, the sources said, and Damascus is keen to persuade Iraq not to instigate further tensions between the two countries. As a result, Damascus is ready to drop its opposition to Al-Maliki's becoming the next prime minister of Iraq. With Syria apparently changing its candidate for prime minister of Iraq, Al-Maliki's rival, former prime minister Iyad Alawi, previously backed by Damascus, said in a recent interview that neighbouring countries "do not hold the important cards that Iran holds in Iraq" and that the "influence of the Arab countries is more substantial on Lebanese and Palestinian issues," in a direct reference to Syria. Syria's leadership was "revising its position towards Iraq," Alawi said, and he was "not relying on Syrian support." The formation of a new government in Iraq has been delayed for months by political wrangling, and Syrian approval of a US-Iranian agreement on the issue could speed up the formation of a new cabinet. However, there are voices in Syria that are disappointed by Damascus's change of heart, including members of the Iraqi resistance and of the large number of members of Iraq's former ruling Baath Party who live in exile in Damascus. "The Americans and Iranians have injected a dose of political sectarianism in order to create sectarian strife in Iraq," Khedr Al-Murshidi, the party's official representative, told the Weekly. "There are clear political differences between the Iraqi factions, as has been demonstrated by their battles since the last elections and their failure to form a new government." "The resistance and the Iraqi Baath Party are confident that the vast majority of Iraqis oppose these battling political parties who have told the world that there is strife among the people of Iraq," Al-Murshidi said. "In reality, the only conflict is between two sides, consisting of the majority of the Iraqi people and the resistance on the one hand and a group of mercenaries assisting the occupation on the other."
