Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad held talks Sunday with Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, on the Iraqi refugees in Syria. Michel had met earlier with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem also, DPA reported. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Michel said his talks with Assad and Moallem had been good and covered "the humanitarian aid the European Union could bring in order to help Syria to tackle the programme of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees." The EU had decided to work together with Syria logistically. "We can organize a lot of projects in health sector ... educational sector and training sector," he said, and noted "the way Syria is welcoming these people. I saw here many interesting initiatives." On Saturday, Michel toured humanitarian projects funded by the Commission's Humanitarian Aid department to assess the humanitarian situation in the region and especially that of Palestinian and Iraqi refugees. He arrived in Damascus on Thursday as part of a five-day tour that has taken him to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. An estimated 1.5 million Iraqi citizens have fled to Syria since the Iraqi regime was toppled in 2003. Syria also shelters around 500,000 Palestinian refugees.
