The Foreign Minister of the new Syrian administration, Asaad Al-Shaibani, met today (Tuesday) in the Jordanian capital Amman, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, as part of a regional tour launched by Saudi Arabia, then Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Safadi said after the meeting that Jordan and Syria agreed to form a Joint Security Committee to secure the border, noting that the two countries will cooperate together to combat drug and arms smuggling. Safadi stressed that Damascus and Amman will cooperate to prevent the re-emergence of the “ISIS” organization.
Positive reflection
“The stability of Syria means the stability of Jordan, and the security of Syria reflects positively on Jordan,” he added, adding that the armed forces have repelled all smuggling attempts at the border over the past years.
“The Syrian people deserve a free homeland after years of suffering,” he said, noting that “joint committees will be formed with the Syrian side on security, energy and other fields”.
A difficult legacy
Safadi pointed out that the legacy carried by the new Syrian administration is not easy, adding that Jordan will remain a support for Syria and will provide all support.
He noted that the talks touched upon security in the south of Syria, the fight against drugs on the border.
For his part, Al-Shaibani pledged that drug trafficking will not pose a threat to Jordan again under the new administration. Shaibani thanked Jordan for welcoming refugees for 13 years, adding that “this visit will be a new beginning in Jordanian – Syrian relations, in order to achieve security and stability in the two countries”.
Al-Shaibani thanked Jordan for its contribution to the lifting of sanctions on Syria, the removal of which will revive the economic situation in Syria.
Al-Shaibani is accompanied on his visit by Defense Minister marhaf Abu Qasra and general intelligence chief Anas Khattab.
Safadi visited Damascus on December 23, and after meeting with the head of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed Al-Shara, confirmed his country’s readiness to help in the reconstruction of Syria, noting that “rebuilding Syria is important for Jordan and the region as a whole”.
International meeting
On December 14, Jordan hosted a meeting on Syria with the participation of the foreign ministers of eight Arab countries, the United States, France, Turkey and the European Union, as well as a representative of the United Nations.
Assad was overthrown on December 8 following an attack by a coalition of armed factions led by the “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham”.
Jordan is one of the few Arab countries that has kept its embassy open in Damascus during the conflict in Syria.
Jordan has a land border with Syria that extends to 375 kilometers. Amman says it has been hosting more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, and according to the United Nations, there are about 680 thousand registered Syrian refugees in Jordan.
Business partnership
The trade exchange between the two countries resumed on the twentieth of December, and since that time 600 Jordanian trucks loaded with goods have entered Syria.
Syria has historically been an important trading partner for Jordan, but the conflict has led to a decline in trade between the two countries from 617 million dollars in 2010 to 146.6 million dollars in 2023.
Yesterday, Jordan sent 300 tons of humanitarian aid to Syria as part of “efforts to stand by the Syrian people”.
During the years of the conflict in Syria, Jordan suffered from drug smuggling operations, especially Captagon pills.
