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Talabani: Iraq will seek wanted Saddam's
aides in Syria
18.1.2007 |
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DAMASCUS, Syria,
January 18, -- Iraq will ask Syria to hand over
senior Saddam Hussein aides suspected of stealing
millions of dollars and helping the anti-U.S.
insurgency, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on
Thursday.
Talabani told Reuters an official request will be
made after security officials accompanying him on a
visit to Syria -- the first by an Iraqi president in
decades -- finish meetings with their Syrian
counterparts and return to Baghdad.
"The Iraqi officials concerned will ask Syria to
hand over all those wanted by the Iraqi judiciary,
including those suspected of committing
non-political crimes, such as theft and corruption,"
said Talabani, who arrived in Syria on Sunday.
"I didn't personally ask for any suspects to be
handed over but there is an extradition agreement
between Iraq and Syria," said Talabani, who lived in
exile in Syria in the 1970s.
Damascus has not said whether it was willing to hand
over those wanted by Iraq among scores of former
government officials and officers who fled to Syria
after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that removed
late President Saddam Hussein from power.
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Iraqi
President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd |
The issue, however, has been a focus of talks
between Syrian and Iraqi security officials.
Talabani's 60-member delegation includes Interior
Minister Jawad al-Bolani and Hadi al-Amery, head of
the Shi'ite Badr Brigades militia and chief of
parliament's security committee. Amery is a key
figure in Iraq's anti-Insurgency efforts.
The Iraqi president did not name people wanted by
Iraq for links with the insurgency and the former
Saddam era government, but Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri,
Saddam's deputy in the Revolutionary Command
Council, which functioned as both executive and
legislature, figures high on the list.
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Douri is suspected of directing rebels inside Iraq.
A number of Iraqi officials have said that Douri was
in Syria, but Talabani said he was in Yemen.
"It had been said that Izzat al-Douri was in Syria
but he is in Yemen. The government has not yet
discussed requesting from Yemen to hand him over. We
have had this information for a while. We have been
tracing his movements," said Talabani, who is a
Kurd.
Syria, which fiercely opposed the 2003 invasion of
Iraq, is believed to have handed over former Saddam
lieutenants, including Sabawi, Saddam's half
brother, to American forces, two year ago.
Relations between Damascus and Washington have since
plummeted, with the United States accusing Syria of
allowing rebels to cross its desert border into Iraq
to fight U.S. forces there. Damascus denies
supporting insurgents and says Iraq should do more
to patrol its side of the border.
Talabani said Iraq expects Syria to take more
effective measures to stop the alleged infiltration
as part of a drive for cooperation between the two
countries covering security, economy, trade and the
oil sector.
"We expect that Syria will take all measures to stop
terrorists from crossing and put a stop to their
activity inside its territory. There is already an
agreement to share intelligence, which will help
improve the security situation in Iraq," Talabani
said.
Talabani said Syria was aware that playing a role in
stabilising Iraq could help it break Western
isolation and improve ties with the United States,
Israel's chief ally.
"An improvement in Iraqi-Syrian ties will really
help stabilise Iraq. Syrian fingerprints on an
improved security situation in Iraq will facilitate
talks between Damascus and Washington," Talabani
said.
Syria and Iraq restored diplomatic relations only
last month after a breach in the 1980s when Syria,
alone in the Arab world, sided with Tehran during
the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
Reuters
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