Jordan’s foreign minister visits Syrian amid regional tensions

By Laith Al-Jnaidi

AMMAN, Jordan (AA) – Jordan’s foreign minister arrived in Damascus on Sunday at the start of an official visit to Syria.

Ayman Safadi conveyed a verbal message from King Abdullah II to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis and a host of bilateral and regional issues, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The unscheduled visit, the third since February last year, came amid rising regional tensions over Israel’s ongoing attacks in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon

On Oct. 3, Safadi held a phone call with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, where they discussed creating conditions for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.

Jordan is one of the countries most affected by the ongoing conflict in neighboring Syria.

The kingdom hosts around 1.3 million Syrians, nearly half of whom are registered as refugees. The rest entered Jordan before the Syrian crisis began in 2011, primarily due to family ties, business, and trade relations.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi