By Khaled Yacoub Oweis DAMASCUS, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A senior Iraqi official urged Damascus on Thursday to improve the lot of Iraqi refugees whose arrival in Syria has raised tensions between the two countries. "The refugees are the responsibility of the Iraqi government but they're also victims of regional and international circumstances everyone helped create," Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi said in Damascus. "Syria must guarantee their full rights as far as security, residency if possible, education, health and minimum living standards," Mahdi said after meeting his Syrian counterpart Farouq al-Shara. The refugee issue is a thorn in relations between Damascus and the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad. Syrian officials accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of ignoring the crisis during a recent visit to Syria. Syria opposed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that removed Saddam Hussein from power and brought sectarian tensions to the surface. It has been accused by Washington and Baghdad of helping rebels and foreign fighters behind sectarian violence and attacks on U.S. forces. Damascus denies the charges. Mahdi, an influential Islamist politician, would not be drawn on whether he had asked the Syrian government to abandon a scheme to stop the refugee influx. Syria has temporarily lifted restrictions on the entry of Iraqi refugees but plans to re-impose them after the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, according to officials and aid workers. "I discussed how to help the Iraqi nationals in Syria and how to improve their conditions without increasing the burden on the Syrian economy," Mahdi said. "Syria is dealing with difficult circumstances and we need to cooperate with the Syrian government and involve the international community," he said. Although the economy has grown steadily over the past few years, Syria is under U.S. sanctions and its oil exports have been falling. Officials say the refugee flow needs to stop, partly due to huge pressure on infrastructure and public services. But groups representing the refugees have urged president Bashar al-Assad to allow thousands fleeing Iraq daily to continue crossing to the Syrian side. The refugee numbers have reached 2 million, Syrian officials said. Jordan, the other main escape route for Iraqi refugees, imposed its own visa requirements some two years ago. Although Syria says the refugees are raising the cost of subsides, an International Monetary Fund report said the influx had given its economy a boost.
