Syria looms over Iraq PM’s Moscow visit

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki set off for Moscow on Monday to boost defense and trade ties, but events in Syria loom large over talks between two states criticized over their support for Damascus. Maliki’s visit, his first to Russia in three and a half years, comes with Baghdad and Moscow accused of helping prop up embattled President Bashar Assad during a nearly 19-month uprising which according to a watchdog has left more than 31,000 dead. The two countries have persistently called for a political solution to the conflict, and have avoided explicitly pushing for Assad to give up power as Western and Arab leaders have argued for. “The stance of Iraq calls for finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and it is opposed to violence ... for solving the crisis,” Maliki said in a recent television interview. “Iraq has not intervened in Syria on behalf of the regime’s interests, or for the interests of the armed opposition,” he continued. Iraq has pushed its own proposals for ending the conflict by calling for an end to violence by all parties, the holding of new elections and the formation of a transitional government in Syria, with which it shares a 600-kilometer (375-mile) border. Moscow, meanwhile, has used its veto power within the UN Security Council to block resolutions condemning the Syrian regime’s use of force. “Syria will be on the negotiating table during the PM’s visit, they will discuss a way to solve the current conflict there,” said Ali Al-Haidari, a Baghdad-based security analyst. “The international community has a problem when it comes to the Syrian opposition, which is made up of a mixture of Al-Qaeda and the civilian and liberal opposition,” Haidari added. “The question is, who do we deal with? And how?“ Seeking Moscow investment in energy sector.