18/09/2010 While meeting his Syrian counterpart in Damascus, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory from the Syrian capital on Saturday saying that the resistance is increasing in the region.
"The front of resistance is increasing in the region, (and) the people of the region support the policy" pursued by the Iranian and Syrian governments, Ahmadinejad said.
"We have achieved a great victory because we were able to defeat the enemy plans to change" the political map in the Middle East, the Iranian President told reporters before departing the Syrian capital.
The brief meeting with President Bashar al-Assad took place at Damascus airport in the presence of Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
Ahmadinejad and Assad signed a visa-scrapping accord that signaled even closer ties.
An Iranian diplomatic source said earlier on Saturday that during their meeting, Ahmadinejad and Assad reaffirmed their strong ties and "commitment to continue consultations ... in areas of interest."
The pair expressed the need "to raise the level of economic cooperation, particularly in the fields of oil, gas, railways and tourism," according to Syria's official SANA news agency.
They also stressed it was important that Iraqi political groups soon find a way to form a coalition following inconclusive March 7 parliamentary elections to ensure the country's unity, added SANA.
The Iranian president was accompanied by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, the home affairs minister and several advisers.
Following his meeting in Syria, Ahmadinejad is expected to travel to Algeria before heading to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, scheduled to begin Monday.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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