Syria Today | Iraqis in Syria protest against US-Iraq security pact

Iraqis in Syria protest against US-Iraq security pact

Some 2,000 Iraqis in Damascus staged a protest against the Iraq-US security pact on December 2, saying the agreement surrenders Iraq to US domination.

Adults and children took part in the demonstration in the Saida Zeinab suburb in southern Damascus nearly one week after Baghdad authorities ratified the agreement which will keep US troops in Iraq until the end of 2011.

Banners were raised with slogans reading: “We denounce the security agreement, a shameful and dishonourable agreement of American occupation,” anda “Iraqis in Syria condemn this disastrous pact”.

On November 24, the Iraqi cabinet ratified the security pact, titled “Agreement on the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and their activities during their temporary presence”. The agreement will replace a UN mandate which expired at the end of 2008.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has previously condemned the Iraq-US security pact, saying the presence of US forces in Iraq is contributing to regional instability. “The presence of US occupation forces constitutes a source of continuous threat to the security of Iraq’s neighbouring states and a factor of instability for the region,” Assad said.

According to Syrian authorities, an estimated 1.5m Iraqi refugees have fled to Syria since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Many of them have settled in Saida Zeinab, a popular pilgrimage point with Shiites who pray at the tomb of Zeinab, grand-daughter of the Prophet Mohammed.