• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

Iraq to share results of U.S. raid probe with Syria

BAGHDAD
Wed Oct 29, 2008 8:24am EDT

Related Video

Syrian villagers pray over coffins during a mass funeral for victims of a raid in the village of Sukaria in the Bou Kamal area, near the Iraqi border October 27, 2008. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will share with Syria the results of an investigation it has opened into a deadly U.S. raid this week into Syrian territory, the Iraqi government said on Wednesday.

World

"The Syrian side will be provided with all details and information when investigation is concluded," the government's National Media Center said in a statement.

Syria says eight civilians were killed in the attack on Sunday, which occurred in an area close to Syria's border with Iraq and which Damascus has angrily condemned as "terrorist aggression" by the United States.

Washington has yet to officially confirm the raid, but officials have said on condition of anonymity that the operation is believed to have killed a major al-Qaeda militant responsible for smuggling foreign fighters into Iraq.

Syria denies this.

The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, after initially saying the raid targeted an area used by militants to launch attacks into Iraq, on Tuesday denounced the raid and said Iraq must not be used to stage attacks on other nations.

The careful stance reflects the U.S.-backed government's delicate position, caught between Washington and Damascus, which has been a longtime target of American ire.

Baghdad has been hoping for rapprochement with Syria and other Arab neighbors, despite complaints since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that Syria has failed to staunch the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq.

"This incident underscores the urgent need for security cooperation and coordination between two brother nations, in order to avoid such acts in future," the statement, quoting a Foreign Ministry source, said.

"Iraq hopes this unfortunate act will not disturb brotherly relations between the two countries," it added.

In an apparent response to the raid, Syria shut down an American school and cultural center in Damascus. It also called on the United Nations Security Council to take action to ensure such cross-border attacks do not occur again.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Missy Ryan; Editing by Louise Ireland)



More from Reuters

An employee swipes a customer's credit card through the card reader at a restaurant in Tokyo February 19, 2005.REUTERS/Issei Kato

Taking a swipe at credit cards

New legislation meant to protect consumers could be a "game changer" for the industry -- and not in a good way.  Full Article 

 dealer shuffles a deck of cards during a poker game at a casino in Budapest September 15, 2009.  REUTERS/Katoly Arvai

Placing their bets

Two IPO filings will test investors' appetite for risk that they probably would've avoided in the past year.  Full Article