U.S. air strike on Syria will affect security pact – MP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Member of the parliamentary committee for security and defense, Abbass al-Bayiati, on Tuesday said that the timing of the U.S. air strike on Syria was “unsuccessful,” and will negatively affect the Iraqi-U.S. negotiations over the long-term security pact. “The air strike will send a negative message to Iraq’s neighbors,” al-Bayiati, a lawmaker for the Unified Iraqi Alliance (UIA) Shiite parliamentary bloc (83 seats out of 275 total) told IraqiNews.com. “The Iraqi government will investigate this issue, and will consider both the U.S. and Syrian stories,” he said. “I hope that this air strike will not affect the Iraqi-U.S. relations that have recently started to improve,” he added. Earlier, the Iraqi Council of Representatives (parliament) said that it is concerned over the attack that was conducted by U.S. forces from Iraq on neighboring Syria, calling on Iraq’s government to inform the House with the outcome of investigations in this regard. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Monday underlined the U.S. has launched a “terrorist act in al-Bu Kamal area, killing innocent civilians.” Moallem held the U.S. Administration responsible for this “aggression.” During a press conference in London, al-Moallem called on the U.S. officials to investigate this act, announce the results, and offer interpretations about the reasons behind launching such an “act of aggression.” He also called on the Iraqi government to investigate the issue and to not allow use of Iraqi territory to launch “aggressions” against Syria. MH (S)/SR 1