Iraq said it would try to convince Syria to implement the Arab League’s initiative following a meeting between the bloc’s Chief Nabil al-Arabi and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Iraq said it would try to convince Syria to implement the Arab League’s initiative following a meeting between the bloc’s Chief Nabil al-Arabi and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

During a joint news conference with Zebari in Baghdad, visiting AL chief said: “We have talked about Syria and we demanded interference from Iraq which has a good relation with Syria”.

"The Iraqi government has told us that it will hold talks with the Syrian government to find a solution for this issue”, said al-Arabi who arrived in the Iraqi capital Thursday.
Al-Arabi said that the AL and Iraq have agreed to send an Iraqi delegation to Damascus to convince the Syrian government to solve its problems in the country.

For his part, Zebari said that Iraq "will exert every effort with Syria to remove all the obstacles that face this initiative."
"We think that the initiative is a real opportunity for Syria in order not to open the door for any foreign interventions," Zebari said.

On November 27, the AL approved sanctions against the Syrian government, with punitive measures including a freeze on transactions with Damascus and its central bank, as well as freeze to the Syrian government assets in Arab countries. However, Iraq abstained from the vote of the AL's sanctions.