Syria Withdraws Troops From Iraq Border

The pro-government newspaper Al-Watan reported on November 2 that Syrian border guards began withdrawing from their positions along the border with Iraq 48 hours after the United States carried out an air strike inside Syria.



According to Al-Watan, some 5,000 troops were stationed along the frontier to contain smuggling.



US and Iraqi officials have in the past accused Damascus of allowing weapons and foreign fighters to enter Iraq by failing to secure its border adequately.



Damascus said the October 27 attack on a border village killed eight civilians, and denied US claims that al-Qaeda members were at the location.



Al-Watan reported that Syrian officials would neither confirm nor deny the troop withdrawal.



The pro-government website Al-Jamal reported on November 1 that the authorities were reviewing relations with Iraq following the cross-border raid, as they were concerned about contradictory statements coming from Iraqi officials regarding the attack.



Al-Jamal said Iraqi reactions fell into three categories – some supported the US attack, others did not seem to take it seriously, and some expressed regret. It said that Baghdad might have helped prepare the raid.



According to Al-Jamal, Syria has supported Iraq but received little in return except accusations and threats from US and Iraqi officials.



On November 2, a Syrian foreign ministry statement said minister Walid Moallem had called his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari, who insisted that his government had no prior knowledge of the attack.



Street protests against the raid continued this week. Youth and student organisations demonstrated in Damascus on November 5, claiming that the attack breached international law and human rights conventions. They encouraged the United Nations to take a stand.