DAMASCUS, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said here on Tuesday that his country would not be a base for offensives against its neighbors, the official SANA news agency reported.

    "Iraq will not be a base for any offensive acts against any of the neighboring countries under any circumstances." Zebari was quoted as saying in talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem.

    Zebari's remarks came two weeks after a deadly U.S. cross-border raid late last month that killed eight Syrian civilians.

    The two ministers discussed the U.S. aggressive raid on the Syrian territories and its repercussions, as well as bilateral ties between Syria and Iraq and means of enhancing them, SANA said.

    Muallem renewed Syria's condemnation of the U.S. aggression, expressing appreciation of the Iraqi government's commitment to guarantee not using its lands to launch aggression against any of the neighboring countries.

    Meanwhile, Zebari also briefed Muallem on the latest developments regarding negotiations on the agreement of arranging the U.S. forces' withdrawal from Iraq.

    The Iraqi top diplomat underlined his government's commitment to assure the neighboring countries regarding that agreement, SANA said.

    Zebari arrived here earlier in the day on a surprise visit to Syria amid tension between the two neighbors following the U.S. raid.

    Earlier this month, Muallem and Zebari discussed in a telephone conversation how to contain the repercussions of the U.S. attack and overcome the tension in relations between the two countries, according to the independent Syria-news website.

    Eight Syrian civilians were killed in a U.S. cross-border helicopters attack in al-Sukkariah village in Abu Kamal near the border with Iraq on Oct. 26.

    Syria has condemned the raid as an "unjustified act of aggression" and a "dangerous violation" of the Syrian sovereignty.

    Shortly after the raid, Syria summoned the Iraqi charge d' affaires, demanding Iraq to prevent the use of its territory to attack Syria.

    The Syrian cabinet also decided to postpone the meeting of the High Syrian-Iraqi Committee, which is due to be held in Baghdad on Nov. 12 to 13.

    U.S. officials have explained that the raid killed a top operative of al-Qaida in Iraq who intelligence suggested was about to conduct an attack in Iraq. But the U.S. State Department and White House refused to comment on the attack, making no confirmation or denial to the incident.