Arab ministers hold landmark meeting with Syrian FM
Published: 04:05 PM,May 01,2023 | EDITED : 08:05 PM,May 01,2023
AMMAN: A group of Arab foreign ministers met with their Syrian counterpart in Jordan on Monday to discuss how to normalise ties with Syria as part of a political settlement, officials said.
The talks are the first between Syria’s government and a group of Arab countries since a decision to suspend Syria’s membership of the Arab League in 2011.
Jordan has called on Syria to engage with Arab states jointly on a step-by-step roadmap to end the conflict, tackling the issues which affect its neighbours.
Before the ministers of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan sat down to talks in Amman, 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 has been fighting armed groups smuggling narcotics from Syria, including the highly-addictive amphetamine captagon.
Jordan is both a destination and a main transit route to the oil-rich Gulf countries for captagon.
The meeting comes two weeks after talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah between the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.
Arab states and those most impacted by the conflict are trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalising ties with Syria.
Saudi Arabia long resisted normalising relations with Assad but said after its rapprochement with Iran.
Safadi on Sunday met with visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, officials said.
— Reuters
The talks are the first between Syria’s government and a group of Arab countries since a decision to suspend Syria’s membership of the Arab League in 2011.
Jordan has called on Syria to engage with Arab states jointly on a step-by-step roadmap to end the conflict, tackling the issues which affect its neighbours.
Before the ministers of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan sat down to talks in Amman, 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 has been fighting armed groups smuggling narcotics from Syria, including the highly-addictive amphetamine captagon.
Jordan is both a destination and a main transit route to the oil-rich Gulf countries for captagon.
The meeting comes two weeks after talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah between the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.
Arab states and those most impacted by the conflict are trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalising ties with Syria.
Saudi Arabia long resisted normalising relations with Assad but said after its rapprochement with Iran.
Safadi on Sunday met with visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, officials said.
— Reuters