"A memorandum of understanding for joint security cooperation between the two countries was signed," Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul-Amir al-Shammari said during a presser in Baghdad with his Syrian counterpart Mohammed Khalid al-Rahmoun.
"The agreement included a number of articles related to cooperation in combating drugs, border control, extradition of wanted individuals, combating organized crime, and money laundering," Shammari added.
The Iraqi minister noted that there is "good" intelligence cooperation between Baghdad and Damascus and the "two countries have joint work in exchanging information."
"Cooperation in all fields, especially security, was discussed, as we suffered from terrorism in our countries, and there is a criminal phenomenon managed by drug trafficking and human trafficking gangs, so we signed a memorandum of joint security cooperation," Rahmoun said.
Previous security operations between the neighbours "have resulted in dismantling some networks and seizing quantities of drugs," according to Rahmoun.
They will hold a comprehensive meeting on regional security cooperation on July 22.
Iraq shares a long border with Syria, spanning over 600 kilometers. Only part of it is controlled by the government in Damascus. The northern portion is held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Iraq has built a concrete wall along stretches of the border to prevent smuggling and the movement of gangs, including the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(ISIS), which seized control of vast swathes of Syrian and Iraqi land in 2014.
Did they consult Israel on the latest technology?
The holy warrior group facilitated the movement of fighters, captives, and weapons between the two countries.Rahmoun noted that Iraq has achieved "great successes in eliminating ISIS," however he warned that the group is still active in hotspots in Syria where it carries out periodic attacks.
The smuggling of narcotics across the border is a growing problem. The interior ministers of Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...met in Amman in February and announced they would cooperate to combat narcotics and the spread of illegal substances.