Iraq PM Al-Sudani to meet Syria regime leader Assad in Damascus

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani is scheduled to meet with regime leader Bashar Al-Assad during an official visit to Syria.

Al-Sudani was headed to the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday.

The prime minister's visit comes after President Assad extended an official invitation, an Iraqi official in Baghdad told The New Arab's Arabic sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Various joint issues, particularly relating to security, will be discussed during the trip.

The Iraqi official said: "Al-Sudani will discuss with the Syrian side the issue of the Iraqi-Syrian border and stopping the infiltration of militants and drug and Captagon smuggling networks from the Syrian side into Iraq."

The premier will also explain the need to activate security and intelligence cooperation between Baghdad and Damascus and discuss the matter of Al-Hol, a camp in Syria where thousands of Iraqis who allegedly have ties to Islamic State group fighters are held.

Al-Hol is not run by the Assad regime but the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who belong to an autonomous administration in the country's north and east.

The Iraqi official who spoke with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said that during his visit Al-Sudani will also discuss the issue of water and the need for the two countries to "share the damage" in the Euphrates River given the decline in water imports from Turkey, with pledges by Baghdad to assist in integrating Syria into the Arab world and the region.

Iraq's ruling coalition supports reintegrating the Syrian regime into the Arab world after a decade of isolation amid the country's ongoing war but there are problems pending between the two sides.

The smuggling of contraband and the large difference between the share of Euphrates River water allocated to Iraq from Turkey and the amount that actually reaches it from Syria are key issues.