Iraqi Vice President al-Hashemi in Syria for talks

Iraq’s vice president arrived in Syria today for talks ahead of Saturday’s conference in Baghdad of world powers and Iraq’s neighbours.

On arrival at Damascus airport Tariq al-Hashemi, who was met by his Syrian counterpart Farouk al-Sharaa, appealed for Arab states to redouble their efforts to put an end to the conflict in his country.

Iraq’s neighbours and representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are due to attend a two-day conference on Iraq that starts Saturday in Baghdad.

Mr Hashemi is expected to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad tomorrow.

Long-time rivals Syria and Iraq recently resumed diplomatic relations that were severed more than 25 years ago. In mid January, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani paid an official visit to Syria, becoming the first Iraqi president to visit Damascus in nearly three decades.

However, Iraq and the United States have accused Syria of providing refuge to Iraqi insurgents and allowing would-be fighters to cross the Syrian-Iraqi border to join the conflict.

Syria denies the charge, countering that Iraq and the US military are not doing enough to guard their side of the border.