ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani arrived in Syria on Sunday in a first visit of an Iraqi premier to Damascus since the start of the brutal Syrian civil war, where he is set to meet President Bashar al-Assad.
Sudani’s visit comes amid a thaw in relations between Damascus and the Arab world and after receiving a formal invitation from Assad. The two leaders are set to meet and hold discussions on a variety of topics, according to Syrian state media.
The last visit of an Iraqi prime minister to Syria was back in 2010, when former PM Nouri al-Maliki paid an official visit to Damascus.
After over a decade of isolation, Syria is making its way back into the Arab fold after countries severed ties with Damascus over its brutal crackdown on protesters that took to the streets across the nation, eventually escalating into war.
Last month, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad met Sudani and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein during a visit to Baghdad.
The top Syrian diplomat’s visit came two weeks after Assad participated in the Arab League summit in Jeddah in May for the first time since the onset of the war after being invited to take part by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman.
On April 15, the foreign ministers of Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt, as well as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, called for solving the Syrian conflict, agreeing on a “vital and leading Arab role” after years of futile efforts to resolve the crisis.
