Iraqi and Syrian officials met Wednesday to discuss restoring full diplomatic relations and reopening their embassies after a 23-year break in full diplomatic relations, a senior Iraqi Foreign Ministry official said. No date has been set for opening the embassies and appointing ambassadors, deputy Foreign Ministry Labeed Abou said. Prime Minister Ibrhaim al-Jaafari has said he would soon be visiting Syria and neighboring Iran. A Syrian diplomatic and security delegation was in Baghdad for the meetings and delivered a message from Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa to his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari, Abou said without elaborating. A similar Iraqi delegation was expected to visit Damascus following Syrian approval for the trip, The Associated Press reported.
