Shafaq News- Damascus/ Baghdad (Updated at 14:08)
Syria is seeking to expand judicial and legal cooperation with Iraq as bilateral ties improve in the economic and security fields, Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais said on Thursday during talks in Damascus with Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council President Faiq Zidan.
Al-Wais said Syria was “entering a new phase focused on building state institutions, strengthening the rule of law and promoting stability,” adding that Damascus sought “balanced and positive” relations with neighboring countries based on mutual respect and shared interests.
He described his visit as the beginning of a new phase in Syrian-Iraqi judicial cooperation and said the two countries’ shared interests created scope for closer coordination.
Zidan, in turn, backed efforts to rebuild Syria’s state institutions and strengthen the rule of law, while discussing a proposed agreement to regulate the transfer and prosecution of Syrian detainees held in Iraq.
He was received in Damascus by al-Wais and Mohammad Taha al-Ahmad, adviser for Arab affairs at Syria’s Foreign Ministry. A source told Shafaq News on Wednesday that the visit, the first of its kind, would address judicial coordination between Baghdad and Damascus, particularly the cases of ISIS detainees recently transferred to Iraqi prisons, as well as transitional justice, transparency, anti-corruption efforts and other shared judicial matters.