BAGHDAD, Iraq - After nearly a quarter-century of severed ties, Iraq said Monday it will resume diplomatic relations with neighboring Syria - a move seen as a possible step toward stemming some of the unrelenting violence, which claimed another 100 lives.

In this photo released by the Iraq President Press Office Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, right, meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Moallem in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 20, 2006. Talabani met privately with Walid Moallem during the second and final day of the foreign minister's visit to Iraq. [AP]

The Iraqi and Syrian presidents also received invitations from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a weekend summit in Tehran to tackle the chaos in Iraq, Iraqi lawmakers said. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's spokesman said his boss would attend but that Syrian President Bashar Assad would not. The invitation was thought to be an attempt by Iran to counter U.S. influence in the region.

The announcement of restored Iraqi-Syrian ties came during a groundbreaking visit to Baghdad by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, who was challenged over Damascus' role in supporting the Sunni insurgency.

"We object to any neighboring country that allows itself to be a base or a transit point for the terrorist groups that harm Iraq," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said after meeting with the Syrian envoy.

Al-Maliki told Moallem that Damascus should not let its disputes with the United States be played out in Iraq, where the chaos and bloodshed has become "a danger that threatens all, not Iraq only."

Asked about the Syrian's visit, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said "the problem is not what they say but what they do."

"Certainly what we would like to see the Syrians do is take actions to, among other things, prevent foreign fighters from coming across the border into Iraq; and, again, to back up the positive words that they have with some real concrete steps," Casey said.

Moallem arrived in Iraq on Sunday in the first such high-level visit by a Syrian official since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. He was expected to return to Damascus on Tuesday.

"Diplomatic relations will be restored between the two countries during the visit," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Syria broke diplomatic ties with Iraq in 1982, accusing Iraq of inciting riots by the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. Damascus also sided with Iran in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Trade ties were restored in 1997.

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