Iraq, Syria call for united stance against terror

Iraq and Syria Tuesday called for more cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism, saying the Arab neighbors are required to work closely in the ongoing fight against groups like Daesh and al-Qaeda.

Iraqi President Foad Masum said through joint efforts, Iraq and Syria could facilitate their way to victory against terror groups which have been wreaking havoc in some territories of the two countries.

Masum, who made the comments during a meeting with visiting Syrian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, said full cooperation between Iraq and Syria is necessary for eliminating terrorism and the terrorists of al-Qaeda and Daesh.

The Syrian official, for his part, highlighted the significance of cooperation between Iraq and Syria in combating terrorism, saying that such joint action can be boosted through the support provided by some regional and extra-regional governments.

Laham, who has been in Baghdad to attend the 11th session of the conference of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC), said, however, that some other regional governments like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, continue to play a negative role in Iraq and Syria by interfering in the internal affairs of those two Arab countries.

More than 260,000 people have been killed and millions more have been displaced in more than four years of turmoil in Syria. The government’s battle against militants has seen a major boost over the past months especially since late September 2015 when Russia began supporting Damascus through combat sorties against terrorist groups.

Iraq has fought its own battle against the Daesh Takfiri group since summer of 2014, with government forces managing to dispel the terrorists from key urban areas in north and west of the country.