Damascus - Syria is sending its first ambassador in a quarter-century to Baghdad on Tuesday, the Syrian state news agency has reported.

The former governor of Quneitra in south-western Syria, Nawaf al- Faris, will be the first Syrian ambassador to Iraq since diplomatic relations were broken off in the early part of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's rule, in 1982.

The sending of an ambassador to Iraq by the Syrians comes as a sign of not only rapprochement between Baathist Syria and formerly- Baathist Iraq, but a possible indication of Syria's growing desire to display goodwill towards the US government, long an enemy.

The US has repeatedly urged Iraq's neighbours to develop full cooperation with Baghdad. (dpa)