DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Syrian and Iraqi officials are negotiating the reopening of an oil pipeline damaged by U.S. air strikes during the American-led invasion of Iraq.
Iraqi Oil Ministry official Falah al-Ameri told United Press International in Damascus Tuesday the pipeline that stretches from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk to the Syrian coastal town of Banyas will start pumping oil in the next few months.
He said while the negotiations have not yet been finalized, the two sides have a "shared desire to restart" the oil supplies, adding the pipeline is functional from the Syrian side but the Iraqi part needs repair.
"Once a final agreement is reached on reopening this pipeline, the Iraqi side will begin repairing and maintaining the line, which might take a few months," al-Ameri said.
The oil duct began pumping oil to Syria under Saddam Hussein's reign in 1997 after the rival neighboring countries resumed economic ties, which drew U.S. disapproval as being in violation of the U.N.-led sanctions and oil-for-food deal program with Iraq. American air strikes damaged the Iraqi side of the pipeline at the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
The Iraqi-Syrian oil negotiations were taking place on the sidelines of a weeklong visit to Damascus by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is heading a high-level political and economic team.
The two countries resumed diplomatic relations late last year for the first time in 24 years as ties were strained from growing rifts between the factional ruling Baath parties in Damascus and Baghdad. Iraq's Baath Party collapsed with Saddam's regime in April 2003.
