Syrian army chief in rare visit to Jordan

MEETING FOLLOWS MAJOR OFFENSIVE TO RETAKE LAST SYRIA REBEL BASTION

Syria’s defence minister and army chief visited Jordan on Sunday to discuss stability on their mutual border, the first such meeting since the Syrian conflict erupted a decade ago when the two neighbours supported opposing factions, officials said.

The meeting follows a major army offensive to retake the last rebel bastion in southern Syria, and after re-establising control this month over Dara’a, a city south of Damascus, in a Russian brokered deal that averted an allout military assault led by Iranian-backed units of the army.

Jordan’s army chief Lt Gen Yousuf Hunaiti met Ali Ayyoub over the Dara’a situation and to discuss issues such as the fight against terrorism and drug smuggling in the area, Jordan’s army said in a statement. “The talks are within the concern to intensify future coordination over all common issues.”

Iran connection

The Syrian army’s pro-Iranian elite Fourth Division had for over two months besieged the area where the first peaceful protests against authoritarian rule broke out in 2011 before security forces cracked down and unrest developed into civil war.

Jordan’s King Abdullah, a staunch US ally, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin on a visit to Moscow in August where he said Russian troops who helped reverse the tide of Syria’s conflict in Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s favour, had succeeded in stabilising the country.

Thousands of rebels, who once received arms and support funnelled through Jordan, handed over their weapons under surrender deals brokered by Moscow. Moscow gave guarantees to Israel, Jordan and Washington at the time that it would prevent Iranian-backed militias from expanding their influence in the area that also borders Israel’s Golan Heights.

What’s at stake

The retaking of Dara’a by government forces earlier this month has brought with it control of several towns and villages that until recently defied state authority.

Jordan and Israel are alarmed by an expanding Iranian presence through its penetration of Syrian army units and the proliferation of Tehran-funded militias who now hold sway in southern Syria, senior Western diplomats say.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah has also consolidated its presence in Quneitra, a province that borders Dara’a to the west along Israel’s Golan Heights.

The military talks between Syria and Jordan, sources said, also addressed a major spike in drug smuggling in recent months which Jordanian officials say Hezbollah is behind.