Why Iraq gives Syria a hand

If any Mideast country has a big heart these days, it would be Iraq. A country that has suffered so much from war and terrorist attacks made a magnanimous gesture this week toward its neighbor Syria, which itself is now emerging from years of conflict.  

The gesture was to invite Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to Baghdad for an Arab summit in May. The magnanimity lies in its measure of forgiveness: Mr. Sharaa was once a leader of Al Qaeda based in Iraq and was jailed for years after the 2003 American-led invasion. He left Al Qaeda in 2016 and formed a more moderate Islamist group that overthrew Syria’s dictator this past December. He now appears to be a reformist leader guiding Syria toward an inclusive democracy.

There’s another aspect to Iraq’s generosity. The country’s majority Shiite Muslims have steadily learned to work toward a common good with the minority Sunnis and others. That sets an example for Syria’s dominant Sunnis, like Mr. Sharaa, to act without sectarian fear toward the nation’s minority faiths.

The top United Nations official for Iraq confirms the shift. “Iraq has crossed that bridge from being a country that was a subject and a victim of violence to an active nation that would like to play a positive role, as it used to do historically,” U.N. special representative Mohammed Al Hassan told The National.

Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, met with Syria’s new leader this week. He is also cooperating with Syria on trade and security along their border. And he offered this advice to Mr. Sharaa: “Protect Syria’s diverse social, religious, and national fabric as well as safeguarding holy sites, houses of worship and places of prayer.”

Iraq has benefited from the occasional moral intervention of its leading Shiite scholar, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. This month, for example, he stated through a representative that Iraqis should stay true to the national values in their constitution and move toward recovery and stability without fear.

Iraq still has a long way to go to heal its divisions and end Iran’s influence. Yet its progress so far now allows it to mentor a neighbor struggling toward postconflict reforms. Writing for the website 1001 Iraqi Thoughts, Iraq analyst Muhammad Al-Waeli wrote, “It is in Iraq’s strategic interest that the Syrians ... learn from Iraq’s lessons.”

Iraqis, he added, “understand the importance of enabling the Syrian people to practice their own agency to manage the transition period the best way possible.”