SpaceWar.com reports: “Syria and Iraq on Sunday said they would step up efforts to fight terrorism and reinforce cooperation in several sectors, as Damascus recovers its place in the Arab world.

In May, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was welcomed back to the Arab League, marking his first appearance at the pan-Arab body since Syria was suspended in 2011 over its crackdown on pro-democracy protests which led to a protracted war.

Despite the conflict Iraq maintained diplomatic ties with its neighbour Syria and on Sunday Assad hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani for talks in Damascus.

They discussed ‘reinforcing cooperation between the two countries in various sectors… in addition to joint efforts to fight back against terrorism’, a statement from Assad’s office said…”