Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani arrived in Damascus on Sunday for a two-day official visit. The Iraqi premier was received by President Bashar al-Assad at the presidential palace in Damascus. 
Speaking to reporters at a joint press conference alongside President Bashar, the Iraqi premier said that Baghdad supports the Palestinian cause and has not changed its position in that regard. He stressed that Iraq dismisses Israel’s occupation.
“I would like to reaffirm the rejection of Israeli occupation and our firm position towards the cause of Palestine,” he underscored.
Al-Sudani also said that Iraq and Syria need to cooperate to tackle the challenges they both face. 
“In order to deal with the challenges that Iraq and Syria are struggling with, coordination must be done,” he said.
“Our armed forces stood strong firm against the terrorists. We and Syria are facing shared challenges,” he noted.
Elsewhere, the Iraqi prime minister said that Iraq has always tried hard to bring back Syria to the Arab League.
Al-Sudani went on to note that, “Iraq and Syria are facing water shortages challenge, and we must cooperate to secure our fair water rights. The big challenge is that a large part of the water rights that Syria and Iraq have in the Tigris River is stolen from them.”
President Assad, for his part, said at the joint news conference that “We salute Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraqi Popular Units (PMU)) for their fight against terrorism.”
“The brotherly country Iraq stood beside Syria during the war against terrorism and rejected all the justifications from the aggressors against Syria,” Assad said.
“I spoke with Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani about the situation of the Arab countries and the challenges in the region.” the Syrian president further said.
“We discussed economic relations and actions for its development,” he added.
KI/