Mr. Safadi’s visit comes against the backdrop of regional countries’ diplomatic rapprochement with Mr. Assad, especially Damascus’ return to the Arab League after years of diplomatic isolation since the outbreak of war in Syria in 2011.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the head of Jordanian diplomacy, Ayman Safadi, discussed in particular the return of war refugees and dealing with drug trafficking on the border of the two states during their meeting on Monday in Damascus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. in Amman.
Mr. Safadi’s visit comes against the backdrop of regional countries’ diplomatic rapprochement with Mr. Assad, especially Damascus’ return to the Arab League after years of diplomatic isolation since the outbreak of war in Syria in 2011.
Their meeting “focused on the issue of the return of refugees and the necessary measures to facilitate the voluntary repatriation” of Syrians who have been welcomed by the Hashemite kingdom, according to a press release from the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.
The two men also discussed measures of a “humanitarian” nature, “security” as well as “political” ones, with a view to a “comprehensive solution” to the Syrian crisis, according to the same source.
Syria was kicked out of the Arab League after a bloody crackdown on protests in 2011, sparking a complicated war that has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions more and destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure since then.
In May, the pan-Arab body readmitted Damascus to its ranks, despite the absence of any prospect of a resolution to the conflict, in hopes of finding a solution for the millions of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, 1.3 million of whom live in Jordan. .
It is also seeking to strengthen security cooperation with Syria, now labeled a narco-state, as the smuggling of captagon, an amphetamine that is refined from the drug, flourishes.
Bashar al-Assad and Ayman Safadi referred to the “dangers posed by drug trafficking through the Syrian border into the kingdom” and the “need for cooperation to address them,” according to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry press release.
The head of Jordanian diplomacy also met with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad, with whom they discussed a “joint committee to fight against drug trafficking”, which will meet in Amman “as soon as possible”.
In recent years, Jordanian security forces have stepped up border controls and thwarted attempts to smuggle drugs and weapons from Syria.
Source :Skai
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