DAMASCUS: Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s top diplomat, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday in Damascus to discuss cross-border drug smuggling and the plight of war refugees, according to the foreign ministry of Jordan.
Safadi’s visit coincides with a surge in regional support for the Assad government, which peaked with Damascus’s admission back into the Arab League after years of exclusion following the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.
According to a statement from the foreign ministry, the conference “focused on the issue of refugee returns and the necessary measures to facilitate the voluntary return” of Syrian refugees from Jordan. To find a “comprehensive solution” to Syria’s issue, Assad and Safadi also addressed “humanitarian, security, and political” steps.
Syria was expelled from the Arab League in 2011 due to Assad’s harsh suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations, which led to a conflict that has claimed more than 500,000 lives and uprooted millions of people. Despite lacking a political resolution to the war, the pan-Arab organization readmitted Damascus in May.
Arab nations want to find a solution for the 1.3 million Syrian refugees residing in Jordan and the other neighboring countries. Additionally, several Arab nations want to work more closely with Syria on security issues because it has developed into a state that engages in a booming black market for amphetamine drugs.
According to the Jordanian statement, Safadi and Assad discussed “the dangers posed by drug smuggling across the Syrian border into the kingdom and the need for cooperation to confront it.” Jordan’s foreign minister met with Faisal Mekdad, his counterpart from Syria, while he was there.
The two discussed establishing a “joint committee to tackle drug smuggling” that will convene in Amman “as soon as possible,” according to the Jordanian foreign ministry.
Jordanian security services have recently reinforced border restrictions and periodically reported unsuccessful attempts to smuggle drugs and weapons out of Syria.
