DAMASCUS, May 26 (AFP) - Syrian Prime Minister Mahmud al-Zohbi held talks here Wednesday with Iraqi Transport Minister Ahmed Murtada Ahmed on expanding the transport links between the two long-estranged Arab neighbors, the official SANA news agency reported. They discussed "opportunities for bilateral cooperation on transportation under the framework of the oil-for-food program," the news agency said. The program, which began in 1996, allows Iraq to sell 5.2 billion dollars worth of crude oil every six months in order to buy necessities. The oil-for-food deal is the only relaxation of the UN embargo imposed on Iraq in 1990 after it invaded Kuwait. The Iraqi minister arrived in Damascus Sunday for a five-day visit. On Monday, he met Syrian Transport Minister Mufid Abdel Karim for talks on expanding transport links. An official Baghdad newspaper said earlier this month that Iraq was expanding its three border posts with Syria to cope with growing volumes of trade and travellers. The border was re-opened in 1997 to businessmen and officials as part of a gradual normalization of ties after a closure of 15 years. Dozens of Iraqi buses and cars travel to Damascus each day, according to transport companies. The two countries also signed an agreement in August to repair an oil pipeline, closed in 1982, which linked Iraq's Kirkuk oil fields with Syria's Banias port. Syria and Iraq, ruled by rival wings of the Baath party, cut ties in 1980, but their relations have been improving since 1997.  