Damascus- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad held talks
Sunday with Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development
and Humanitarian Aid, on the Iraqi refugees in Syria.
Michel had met earlier with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-
Moallem also.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Michel said his talks with Assad
and Moallem had been good and covered 'the humanitarian aid the
European Union could bring in order to help Syria to tackle the
programme of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees.'
The EU had decided to work together with Syria logistically. 'We
can organize a lot of projects in health sector ... educational
sector and training sector,' he said, and noted 'the way Syria is
welcoming these people. I saw here many interesting initiatives.'
On Saturday, Michel toured humanitarian projects funded by the
Commission's Humanitarian Aid department to assess the humanitarian
situation in the region and especially that of Palestinian and Iraqi
refugees.
He arrived in Damascus on Thursday as part of a five-day tour that
has taken him to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan.
An estimated 1.5 million Iraqi citizens have fled to Syria since
the Iraqi regime was toppled in 2003. Syria also shelters around
500,000 Palestinian refugees.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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