BAGHDAD: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is to visit Damascus for talks on security on Tuesday after the top US general in Iraq said Syria's role in allowing fighters to enter the country remained a concern.

Maliki's trip, which will include a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, comes just days after a senior US military delegation visited Syria to discuss regional security issues, reportedly including Iraq.

General Ray Odierno told reporters on Monday that while the "flow of foreign fighters in Iraq has decreased significantly... we're still a little bit concerned with Syria's role in this."

Both Iraq and the United States have repeatedly accused Damascus of supporting terrorism and allowing Islamist militants, namely from Al-Qaeda, to enter Iraq through Syria's porous borders.

Maliki's visit to Syria will focus on "security, politics, economics, borders, water and regional cooperation," Ali Musawi, an adviser to the Iraqi premier, told AFP on Sunday.

"We think that this visit will form a solid base for joint cooperation between the two countries, especially over security and borders and preventing infiltration."

Baghdad earlier responded negatively to reports that the US-Syria meeting on August 12 had reportedly included discussions on Iraqi security, which Iraqi deputy foreign minister Labid Alawi said the government did not "care for".

"The prime minister's discussions with senior Syrian officials will focus mainly on security cooperation between Baghdad and Damascus, and what can Syria propose in this field without the need for a third party," Abawi told Al-Bayan newspaper, which is owned by a Maliki adviser, in remarks published on Sunday.

"Baghdad doesn't care for any of these meetings about Iraq without its presence," he added.

Odierno said American "bilateral discussions with them (Syria) are important," referring to the senior US military delegation that visited Damascus to talk about regional security issues.

He would say only that the meetings were "exactly that -- bilateral meetings between the United States and Syria, that dealt with regional issues."

"I believe that the best way for Iraq and Syria to solve their issues is through the bilateral work that will go on between Prime Minister Maliki and Assad.

"We have a lot of reasons to begin discussions... with Syria, and I think this is just the beginning of those discussions, and it's not just Iraq that they're dealing with."

Maliki's talks in Syria will also focus on water resources, amid frequent complaints from Baghdad that the flow of the Euphrates river, which runs from Turkey through Syria to Iraq, is insufficient for Iraq's agricultural needs.

Baghdad's water minister accused Turkey last week of breaking a promise to increase water flows down the Euphrates, saying Ankara was actually holding back on the precious commodity.

He was responding to remarks by visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that his country had fulfilled its promises and was considering increasing the flow further.

In July, Baghdad called for talks with Ankara and Damascus over the issue.