BAGHDAD -- Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mualem on Sunday made a surprise visit to Iraqi capital of Baghdad and said in a press conference that Syria "in principle" will attend the upcoming Geneva conference.

"I have informed (Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri) al-Maliki and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry with Syria's decision to participate in principle in the conference in Geneva in June with an official delegation, and I have perceived their (Iraqi officials) relief at Syria's decision," Mualem told reporters in a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari.

"This conference is good opportunity for political solution for the people of Syria," Mualem said.

He added that "the dialogue between the spectra of the Syrian people is the only solution for the Syrian crisis, because there is no one can make decision instead of the Syrian people."

For his part, Zebari reiterated the "need to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis which could be reached between the Syrian factions themselves."

Earlier in the day, Mualem arrived in Baghdad on a surprise visit and held a meeting with al-Maliki. The two sides discussed the development in Syria and Syria's participation in Geneva conference, according to a statement issued by Maliki's office.

Iraq's Shiite-dominated government has maintained close ties with Syria, whose President Bashar al-Assad is a member of Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.