The Syrian foreign ministry said its top diplomat Asaad al-Shaibani met with Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi and US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack to discuss “ways of strengthening cooperation and coordination between the three sides” in order to serve Syria’s stability, “sovereignty and regional security”.
Damascus said the sides had agreed to form a working group “to support the Syrian government’s efforts to consolidate the ceasefire in Sweida province and work to find a comprehensive solution to the crisis”.
The meeting on Tuesday was a continuation of discussions held between the officials in Amman on July 19 about deadly clashes in the Druze-majority Syrian province of Sweida, where a week of sectarian violence killed 1,400 people before a ceasefire put an end to the bloodshed.
Syria’s minority communities have expressed concerns for their safety since December, when an Islamist-led offensive toppled long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad, who had presented himself as a protector of minorities.
While the new Syrian authorities have repeatedly stated their intent to protect all of the country’s ethnic and religious groups, the killing of more than 1,700 mostly Alawite civilians along the coast in March and the violence in Sweida have raised doubts about their ability to manage sectarian tensions.
In Jordan on Tuesday, King Abdullah II separately met with Shaibani and Barrack, expressing his “support for Syria’s efforts to preserve its security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity”, a royal statement said.
It noted “the importance of Washington’s role in supporting the reconstruction process in Syria in a manner that preserves the rights of all Syrians”.
The king also said Jordan was ready “to share its expertise in all fields to help develop and strengthen the capabilities of Syrian institutions” and “noted the need to step up Jordanian-Syrian cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and preventing arms and drug smuggling”, the statement added.
According to the Syrian statement, the foreign ministers’ meeting welcomed Damascus’s efforts to “restore basic services, hold perpetrators of violations to account, and prepare the conditions for the return of displaced people to their homes”.