Neighboring countries worry about Iraq’s developments – al-Assad

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday that it is natural that Iraq’s neighboring countries feel worry about its recent developments, because they affect them negatively or positively. This came during a joint press conference in Damascus with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aired by al-Arabiya satellite channel. Their talks focused on the political situation in Iraq. ‘It’s natural to give priority to the Iraqi issue. There is a government-formation process which is supposed to have started right after the end of elections in Iraq. More than six months have passed and a government hasn’t been formed yet,’ al-Assad said in the joint press conference. Al-Assad stressed that his talks with Erdogan were not meant to interfere in Iraqi affairs. Erdogan, for his part, called for speeding up the formation of the new government. Key Iraqi politicians have visited Syria recently as the deadlock over forming a new Iraqi government continues. Former Iraqi prime minister and the head of the Iraqiya List, Iyad Allawi, said in Damascus last week that he had asked al-Assad to help stop alleged Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs. SH (P) 2