Jordan foreign minister holds talks with Syria's new leader

Ahram Online , Monday 23 Dec 2024

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday, Amman said. This was the latest high-profile visit since Bashar al-Assad's ouster, while Iran said it had "no direct contact" with Syria's new rulers.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi (L) being received by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader A
Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi (L) being received by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani) in Damascus. AFP

 

Images distributed by the Jordanian foreign ministry showed Safadi and Sharaa shaking hands, without offering further details about their meeting.

A foreign ministry statement earlier said that Safadi would meet with the new Syrian leader as well as with "several Syrian officials".

It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Assad's fall.

Jordan, which borders Syria to the south, hosted a summit earlier this month where top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats called for an inclusive and peaceful transition after years of civil war.

Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, has welcomed senior officials from a host of countries in the Middle East and beyond in recent days.

On Sunday, Jordanian government spokesman Mohamed Momani told reporters that Amman "sides with the will of the brotherly Syrian people", stressing the close ties between the two nations.

Momani said the kingdom would like to restore security and stability in Syria and supported "the unity of its territories".

Momani said that stability in war-torn Syria was in Jordan's interests and would "ensure security on its borders".

Some Syrians who had fled the war in 2011 and sought refuge in Jordan have begun returning home, according to Jordanian authorities.

The interior ministry said Thursday that more than 7,000 Syrians had left, out of some 1.3 million refugees Amman says it has hosted.

According to the United Nations, 680,000 Syrian refugees were registered in Jordan.

Jordan in recent years has tightened border controls in a crackdown on drug and weapon smuggling along its 375-kilometre (230-mile) border with Syria.

One of the main drugs smuggled is the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, for which there is a huge demand in the oil-rich Gulf.

On the other hand, Iran said Monday it had "no direct contact" with Syria's new rulers after the fall of al-Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.

"We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.

Iran affirmed its support for Syria's sovereignty and said the country should not become "a haven for terrorism", saying such an outcome would have "repercussions" for countries in the region.

"Our principled position on Syria is obvious: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.

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