Iraq builds Syrian security fence

BAGHDAD, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Iraqi security officials joined their U.S. counterparts in inaugurating a section of a Syrian border security fence as tensions with the outlawed Baath Party escalate.

Jawad al-Bolani, the Shiite interior minister of Iraq, held a ceremony to highlight a security fence meant to prevent terrorists from entering his country, the Voice of America news agency reports.

Bolani said the primary purpose of the fence was to prevent smugglers and other criminal elements from crossing into Iraq.

His comments come as tensions escalate between the Shiite government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Baath Party affiliates.

Iraqi law forbids members of the Baath Party of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from taking part in the political process. Elements of the Baath Party in Syria allegedly led the insurgency that threatened to push Iraq to civil war in 2007.

Maliki blamed Baath Party supporters in Damascus for a series of suicide blasts that struck high-profile buildings in Baghdad during the summer of 2009, some of the deadliest attacks in years.

The fence inauguration also comes as political tensions intensify ahead of March parliamentary elections. An Iraqi vetting commission in January cut nearly 500 names from the list of candidates for March elections because of ties to the Baath Party.