NOVANEWS
 |
|
U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Zionist King of Jordan’s Abdullah await questions from the press prior to a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss issues like the Syrian crisis and regional security, in Washington, April 26, 2013 (photo by REUTERS/Mike Theiler)
|
|
By: Osama Al Sharif
|
Jordan is abandoning its cautious diplomatic stand on Syria — one that has favored a political solution to the two-year-old conflict but without calling directly on President Bashar al-Assad to leave — and has joined a growing number of Arab and regional countries who see no role for the Syrian strongman in the future of that country.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh joined counterparts from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as Turkey, in Abu Dhabi on May 13 to discuss a new US-Russian proposal to hold an international conference on Syria soon.
A joint statement said that the ministers backed a June 2012 Geneva plan for a transitional government in Syria as long as “it takes in consideration that Assad and his aides with blood-stained hands would have no place in Syria’s future,” according to UAE’s news agency. It was the first time that Jordan had supported such strongly worded anti-Assad rhetoric since the outset of the Syrian crisis in March 2011.
It also contravenes calls by a number of Jordanian politicians and commentators that their country stay away from the Syrian quagmire. Last month Assad accused the Jordanian authorities of allowing thousands of “terrorists” to cross the border into his country. He warned that the Syrian fire could reach Jordan.
One day after Monday’s meeting [May 14], Jordan confirmed reports that the next Friends of Syria group will meet in Amman in the middle of next week ]. It would be the first time that Jordan would play host to the opposition group.
The meeting would bring together the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the United States, Britain, France, Turkey, Germany and Italy. It is not yet known who will represent the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) in the meeting, which has yet to decide if will participate in the proposed meeting.
A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the “meeting will follow up on previous meetings in Istanbul and Abu Dhabi to discuss the unfortunate events in Syria and coordinate positions in line with the recent US-Russian agreement to revive the political path to tackle the crisis.”
Until now Jordan has tried to maintain contacts with various parties involved in the Syrian crisis including Russia and Iran. Minister Judeh visited Moscow last week and Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was in Amman recently to meet with King Abdullah II. The King was in Washington last month to promote his vision for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis that would involve the US and Russia.
And while relations between Amman and Damascus have been frigid at best, Jordan continues to allow the Syrian embassy in the capital to function normally. It has kept the borders open and is host to over half a million Syrian refugees. Many defecting Syrian army officers and politicians, including a former prime minister, have been received in Jordan since the beginning of the crisis.
The shift in Jordan’s official position is hard to explain. The kingdom had previously come under pressure from its Gulf allies to open its borders to fighters and weapons heading to Syria, but it has always denied reports that it had done so. Recently it acknowledged that some US Army personnel were in Jordan, but only as part of normal military cooperation. That presence was rejected by local opposition groups.
And after last week’s car bombings in a Turkish town near the Syrian border, which claimed at least 51 lives, many Jordanians expressed fear that similar attacks could take place in Jordan. Turkey accused elements with ties to the Syrian intelligence of plotting the bombings.
The mood in Amman is not hopeful about the outcome of the international meeting on Syria. Jordanian commentators spoke of logistical difficulties and that the opposition is divided. Columnist Fahd Al Khaitan wrote in Al Ghad daily that there are more than 20 armed groups fighting the Assad regime today, including the powerful Jabhat al-Nusra. He quoted former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati as saying that there would be 10 Geneva meetings before things are resolved and that meanwhile he was fearful for Lebanon and Jordan.
Similar sentiments were echoed by former minister of information in Jordan and daily columnist Taher Al Idwan who wrote in Al Rai daily that the proposed Geneva II meeting will not prevent regional conflagration since the regime is bent on a military option that will either defeat the rebellion or partition the country.Jordan’s foreign policy is usually calculating and cautious. It has been both on Syria since the crisis erupted more than two years ago.
There are definite signs that Jordan is aligning itself with regional hard-liners such as Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. With long borders with Syria and more than half a million refugees on Jordanian soil, Jordanians hope that Assad’s fires will not spill over into their country because of recent changes in official policy.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh joined counterparts from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as Turkey, in Abu Dhabi on May 13 to discuss a new US-Russian proposal to hold an international conference on Syria soon.
A joint statement said that the ministers backed a June 2012 Geneva plan for a transitional government in Syria as long as “it takes in consideration that Assad and his aides with blood-stained hands would have no place in Syria’s future,” according to UAE’s news agency. It was the first time that Jordan had supported such strongly worded anti-Assad rhetoric since the outset of the Syrian crisis in March 2011.
It also contravenes calls by a number of Jordanian politicians and commentators that their country stay away from the Syrian quagmire. Last month Assad accused the Jordanian authorities of allowing thousands of “terrorists” to cross the border into his country. He warned that the Syrian fire could reach Jordan.
One day after Monday’s meeting [May 14], Jordan confirmed reports that the next Friends of Syria group will meet in Amman in the middle of next week ]. It would be the first time that Jordan would play host to the opposition group.
The meeting would bring together the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the United States, Britain, France, Turkey, Germany and Italy. It is not yet known who will represent the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) in the meeting, which has yet to decide if will participate in the proposed meeting.
A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the “meeting will follow up on previous meetings in Istanbul and Abu Dhabi to discuss the unfortunate events in Syria and coordinate positions in line with the recent US-Russian agreement to revive the political path to tackle the crisis.”
Until now Jordan has tried to maintain contacts with various parties involved in the Syrian crisis including Russia and Iran. Minister Judeh visited Moscow last week and Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was in Amman recently to meet with King Abdullah II. The King was in Washington last month to promote his vision for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis that would involve the US and Russia.
And while relations between Amman and Damascus have been frigid at best, Jordan continues to allow the Syrian embassy in the capital to function normally. It has kept the borders open and is host to over half a million Syrian refugees. Many defecting Syrian army officers and politicians, including a former prime minister, have been received in Jordan since the beginning of the crisis.
The shift in Jordan’s official position is hard to explain. The kingdom had previously come under pressure from its Gulf allies to open its borders to fighters and weapons heading to Syria, but it has always denied reports that it had done so. Recently it acknowledged that some US Army personnel were in Jordan, but only as part of normal military cooperation. That presence was rejected by local opposition groups.
And after last week’s car bombings in a Turkish town near the Syrian border, which claimed at least 51 lives, many Jordanians expressed fear that similar attacks could take place in Jordan. Turkey accused elements with ties to the Syrian intelligence of plotting the bombings.
The mood in Amman is not hopeful about the outcome of the international meeting on Syria. Jordanian commentators spoke of logistical difficulties and that the opposition is divided. Columnist Fahd Al Khaitan wrote in Al Ghad daily that there are more than 20 armed groups fighting the Assad regime today, including the powerful Jabhat al-Nusra. He quoted former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati as saying that there would be 10 Geneva meetings before things are resolved and that meanwhile he was fearful for Lebanon and Jordan.
Similar sentiments were echoed by former minister of information in Jordan and daily columnist Taher Al Idwan who wrote in Al Rai daily that the proposed Geneva II meeting will not prevent regional conflagration since the regime is bent on a military option that will either defeat the rebellion or partition the country.Jordan’s foreign policy is usually calculating and cautious. It has been both on Syria since the crisis erupted more than two years ago.
There are definite signs that Jordan is aligning itself with regional hard-liners such as Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. With long borders with Syria and more than half a million refugees on Jordanian soil, Jordanians hope that Assad’s fires will not spill over into their country because of recent changes in official policy.
