Syria Today | A Friend in Need

Recently blossoming Syrian-Iraqi relations point to the triumph of these countries' mutual interests in spite of a hostile foreign plot.

By Janbulat Shikay
Photo Carole al-Farah

After 2005, when the sectarian conflict in Iraq started, the number of fleeing Iraqis who sought asylum in Syria reached its peak. During that period, some resented the heavy burden the Syrian community shouldered due to the presence of around 3 million Iraqi refugees residing mainly in Damascus and its countryside, and the rise in prices of consumable goods and house rents. At the same time, the Syrian government announced it would spend roughly USD 1.5bn per year to cover the costs of these refugees who share bread, residence, free medical and educational services with their Syrian brothers.

Some Syrians might have the impression that Syria received mainly Sunni Iraqis loyal to Saddam Hussein's regime. However, it also previously hosted hundreds of thousands of Shi'ites escaping Hussein's oppression. Therefore, what Iraq's people and government are doing now can be called returning the favour, maybe in a better way than what the Syrians did for them in the past.

For over a decade, Iraq has been Syria's main economic supporter, providing between 19 and 26.25 percent of its foreign trade between 2008 and 2010. Last year, according to the Iraqi trade attaché, this percentage reached 42 percent (USD 5bn), with Iraq announcing it wanted to raise this amount to USD 7bn.

This economic support while Syria is under economic siege from Arab countries and the West cannot be explained other than by a strong political decision from Baghdad. Its backers believe that the deterioration of the situation in Syria will be catastrophic for the entire region, including Iraq. With rare courage, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced this stance in December from the balcony of the White House, in the presence of the American president, Barak Obama, as other Arab leaders raced to impose even harsher sanctions on Syria than the US had.

Current Iraqi leaders have not forgotten the taste of the bread they ate in Damascus as refugees. Nor have current Iraqi opposition leaders who mostly reside in Damascus. Thus both the Iraqi government and opposition agree to support Syria, not only to return a favour, but also to maintain Iraqi interests.

Indeed, the recent situation in Syria largely resembles the more complex Iraqi one. Damascus and Baghdad have both moved towards mutual reconciliation with the same pan-Arab national spirit in two spheres. The first move dealt a decisive blow to the Arab economic siege by keeping Iraq's doors wide open to Syrian products. The second backed the implementation of the Arab League work plan signed by Damascus and the league to prevent internationalisation of the crisis which would open a Pandora's box for the entire region.

Recently, an Iraqi initiative to solve the crisis has been touted, based on the formula of pushing the Syrians to solve their internal problems themselves to prevent any foreign intervention while supporting them economically. Baghdad is convinced that the best strategy for regional stability and prosperity is to continue implementing the project launched by the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, to create a large economic bloc stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf, or maybe the Indian Ocean. Its nucleus is made up of Syria, Iraq and Iran.

This project promises to benefit the region. But it simultaneously threatens the super-powers which do not want countries besides themselves controlling global energy sources or their transport. As a result, an unprecedented international effort seeks to topple the Syrian regime and break Iraq up into sectarian mini-states. However, both the Syrian and the Iraqi leadership are aware of this plot and it seems that both will overcome it to achieve their own interests against those of the west.

Janbulat Shikay is a political editor and journalist specialising in Iraqi affairs.