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Tarek al-Hashemi with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
In turn, Assad said he hoped Iraq's March 7 legislative elections would "return security and agreement among all components of the Iraqi people," the state news agency said.
It said that Hashemi, who arrived Monday, expressed appreciation for "Syrian support for the Iraqi people, especially by accommodating Iraqi refugees on its soil."
Bilateral relations between the two neighbours effectively collapsed last August after the countries withdrew their respective envoys in the wake of massive twin truck bombings in Baghdad, which Iraq says were orchestrated from Syria.
Baghdad accuses Syria of harbouring loyalists from the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein, who was toppled in the 2003 US-led invasion and later executed.
Hashemi, from the Iraqi National Bloc headed by former prime minister Iyad Allawi, told hundreds of Iraqi refugees in Syria Monday that the Iraqi government was slow in responding to their plight.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Syria has registered 220,000 Iraqis in the country, according to Iraqi officials.
The size of the Iraqi refugee community in Syria is a sensitive issue, with Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad in January putting their number at more than 1.5 million and accusing Baghdad of failing to provide sufficient financial aid.
The Iraqi election is seen as key to consolidating Iraq's fledgling democracy and ensuring a smooth exit of US combat troops by August ahead of a complete American military withdrawal by the end of 2011.
Iraqi refugees in many countries, including Syria, are expected to vote in the elections through out-of-country polling stations.
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It said that Hashemi, who arrived Monday, expressed appreciation for "Syrian support for the Iraqi people, especially by accommodating Iraqi refugees on its soil."
Bilateral relations between the two neighbours effectively collapsed last August after the countries withdrew their respective envoys in the wake of massive twin truck bombings in Baghdad, which Iraq says were orchestrated from Syria.
Baghdad accuses Syria of harbouring loyalists from the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein, who was toppled in the 2003 US-led invasion and later executed.
Hashemi, from the Iraqi National Bloc headed by former prime minister Iyad Allawi, told hundreds of Iraqi refugees in Syria Monday that the Iraqi government was slow in responding to their plight.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Syria has registered 220,000 Iraqis in the country, according to Iraqi officials.
The size of the Iraqi refugee community in Syria is a sensitive issue, with Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad in January putting their number at more than 1.5 million and accusing Baghdad of failing to provide sufficient financial aid.
The Iraqi election is seen as key to consolidating Iraq's fledgling democracy and ensuring a smooth exit of US combat troops by August ahead of a complete American military withdrawal by the end of 2011.
Iraqi refugees in many countries, including Syria, are expected to vote in the elections through out-of-country polling stations.
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