BAGHDAD: Syria’s foreign minister said in Baghdad on Friday that his government was ready to “reinforce cooperation” with Iraq in the fight against remnants of Daesh.

Asaad Al-Shaibani’s visit to Syria’s neighbor coincided with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani announcement that security forces had killed a senior Daesh leader.

It was also Al-Shaibani’s first visit to Iraq since his alliance toppled Syrian leader Bashar Assad in December.

Relations between Syria and Iraq have become more complicated since the ousting of Assad.

In Baghdad, Al-Shaibani met Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

“Security is a shared responsibility,” Al-Shaibani told a joint news conference with Hussein.

“We are ready to reinforce cooperation with Iraq in the fight against Daesh along the whole length of the border. Terrorism knows no borders.”

Al-Sudani on Friday posted on X that Abdullah Makki Muslih Al-Rufayi, the Daesh leader killed by Iraqi security forces, “was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world.” He said the terrorist, who was targeted by US sanctions in 2023, was Daesh’s so-called governor of the group’s Syrian and Iraqi provinces.

Al-Sudani did not say when Al-Rufayi was killed, but applauded the operation by Iraqi intelligence that was carried out in cooperation with the US-led anti-terrorist coalition in Iraq.

At the joint news conference with Al-Shaibani, Hussein said Iraq hoped there would be “tangible results” from an investigation launched by Syria’s new authorities into mass killings of civilians.

“We discussed what happened to the Alawite community ... and we expressed our concern,” he said, adding that he hoped a commission of inquiry formed by Damascus “would achieve tangible results that establish civil peace in Syria.” Baghdad said earlier this week it was investigating an attack on Syrian workers in Iraq after a newly formed group in the country vowed to avenge the mass killing of civilians.

Iraqi forces have, in recent days, arrested at least 13 Syrians accused of “promoting terrorist groups” and supporting the mass killings in Syria, two Interior Ministry officials said.

On Wednesday, Syria’s Foreign Ministry denounced the violence against its citizens and urged Baghdad to take “necessary measures to ensure the security of Syrians residing in Iraq.”