Syria tells Arab meeting it will work to stop drugs trade
▶ Five foreign ministers gather in Amman to discuss rekindling Damascus ties, without support of Qatar and US
The Syrian government agreed to work on “effective steps” to counter the narcotics trade, during an Arab meeting in Amman yesterday to discuss normalising ties.
Curbing the drugs trade is a major goal of a drive partly led by Jordan towards opening a new diplomatic chapter with President Bashar Al Assad.
Jordan has blamed the Syrian military and Iran-backed militias for the proliferation of the trade, which has enriched the government and its allies. Differences among Arab powers have impeded the normalisation of ties, as has scepticism from the US over Iran’s deep links with Syria.
A joint communique after the meeting of the foreign ministers of Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia said Damascus would co-operate on “identifying the sources of production of narcotics” and “the parties that organise and manage and execute the smuggling”.
It said the five countries agreed on the need to take steps to address border security.
The communique called for “all terrorist armed groups” to leave Syria, as their presence threatened “regional and international security”.
The Syrian government agreed to identify public service improvements needed for refugees to return, with the possibility of Arab financing. Infrastructure improvements should aim at “providing a dignified living to those refugees who chose to return voluntarily”, the communique said. It suggested the regime has an amnesty.
As Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Amman yesterday, Jordan said its armed forces killed a smuggler at the border in an overnight battle. The Jordanian military said 133,000 Captagon pills were seized, as well an AK-47 rifle and ammunition.
Syria’s government was ostracised by much of the Arab and western world for its suppression of 2011 protests against five decades of Assad family rule.
A meeting in Jeddah two weeks ago, held shortly after a detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran was announced, did not bridge Arab differences on Syria.
A Jordanian official said the narcotics issue and the safe return of refugees, even to areas where militias supported by Iran hold sway, was discussed in Jeddah.
But Qatar, which attended the meeting in Jeddah after publicly opposing Syria’s return, was not represented in Amman.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said last month that the reasons behind the “boycott of the Syrian regime” and its suspension from the Arab League persist.
Syria was suspended in November 2011 after its government used tanks to repress protests in provincial capitals such as Deraa, Hama and Deir Ezzor. Thousands of people, mostly civilians, were killed.
The Arab effort to bring Syria back into the international fold has received a lukewarm response from Washington.
On Saturday in Amman, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met Barbara Leaf, the US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. The official Jordanian news agency said issues “of mutual interest” were discussed.
A senior western diplomat said the US told Jordan and other Arab countries that doing business with Syria could run afoul of American sanctions.
Large parts of Syria remain outside government control, with the country divided into zones of Iranian, Russian and US dominance.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visits Damascus tomorrow.
Syria’s government was ostracised by much of the Arab and western world for its suppression of 2011 protests