Global Courant 2023-05-01 21:28:10
The historic talks stem from efforts by some Arab states to reintegrate Syria into the Arab League.
Syria has agreed to tackle drug trafficking across its borders with Jordan and Iraq, following a meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss normalizing ties with Damascus.
The group said in a statement Monday that Damascus had agreed to “take the necessary steps to end smuggling at its borders with Jordan and Iraq,” after the foreign ministers of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan had met in the Jordanian capital Amman. .
The historic talks come more than a decade after Syria’s membership in the Arab League was suspended in 2011 after President Bashar al-Assad cracked down on protesters.
A Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the group aimed to build on their contacts with the Syrian government and to discuss a “Jordanian initiative to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis”.
Prior to the talks, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad met bilaterally with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, according to the Jordanian foreign ministry.
They discussed refugees, water issues and border security, including the fight against drug smuggling, the ministry said.
Amman is battling armed groups smuggling narcotics out of Syria, including the highly addictive amphetamine Captagon. Jordan is both a destination for Captagon and an important transit route to the oil-rich Gulf states.
Normalize tires
In recent years, as al-Assad consolidated control over most of the country, Syria’s neighbors began taking steps toward rapprochement.
The rapprochement gained momentum following a deadly Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the Chinese-mediated restoration of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had supported opposing sides in the conflict.
Monday’s meeting came two weeks after talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah between the Gulf Cooperation Council and Egypt, Jordan and Iraq failed to reach agreement on Syria’s possible return to the Arab herd.
Arab states sought to agree on whether to invite al-Assad to the May 19 Arab League Summit in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalization of ties with al-Assad and on what terms Syria would return. can be admitted.
Regional superpower Saudi Arabia has long resisted normalizing relations with al-Assad, but opted for a new approach after rapprochement with Iran, Syria’s main regional ally.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud visited Damascus last month for the first time since the kingdom cut ties with Syria more than a decade ago.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will travel to Damascus on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported, as part of a “very important” two-day visit.
Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait have opposed al-Assad’s presence at the Arab League summit.
The United States has said it will not change its policy towards the Syrian government, which it calls a “rogue state”, and has urged Arab states to get something in return for their involvement with al-Assad.
The 12-year war in Syria has claimed about half a million lives and nearly half the population is now refugees or internally displaced.
Large parts of the territory still remain outside government control, but al-Assad hopes the full normalization of ties with the wealthy Gulf monarchies will help fund the rebuilding of the country’s war-ravaged infrastructure.
