عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Jordan to Host Quartet Meeting to Discuss Gas Supplies to Lebanon

Secretary-General of the Syrian Lebanese Higher Council, Nasri Khoury, speaks at a press conference in Damascus. (EPA)
Secretary-General of the Syrian Lebanese Higher Council, Nasri Khoury, speaks at a press conference in Damascus. (EPA)
TT
TT

Jordan to Host Quartet Meeting to Discuss Gas Supplies to Lebanon

Secretary-General of the Syrian Lebanese Higher Council, Nasri Khoury, speaks at a press conference in Damascus. (EPA)
Secretary-General of the Syrian Lebanese Higher Council, Nasri Khoury, speaks at a press conference in Damascus. (EPA)

Jordan will host a meeting of Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon’s energy ministers on Wednesday to discuss the transit of Egyptian gas to Lebanon for electricity generation.

Observers said that Amman succeeded in lifting the siege imposed on Syria in response to the energy crisis in Lebanon amid a surplus of electrical energy production in Jordan.

The infrastructure is almost ready for the transit of Egyptian gas from Jordan and Syria to Lebanon.

Damascus announced its approval of Beirut’s request to help pass Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity through its territory and confirmed its readiness to help with transit for Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity, the Syrian Arabian News Agency (SANA) reported Saturday.

Jordanian King Abdullah II discussed the Lebanese energy issues during his meetings with US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past two months.

The monarch received in Amman a Lebanese delegation headed by deputy Prime Minister and acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Zeina Akar.

Top political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat there were also unannounced meetings at the royal palace with Lebanese political leaders.

King Abdullah is seeking to support Lebanon’s state institutions and army to maintain its security, stability and unity and ensure the speedy provision of its energy needs.

Amman is willing to supply Lebanon with Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity. However, according to Jordanian sources, the electricity transmission networks require months to be prepared and will need immediate support to protect power stations inside Syria.

On Saturday, a Lebanese ministerial delegation visited Damascus for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict in 2011 to discuss gas and energy transit through Syria.

Last month, the Lebanese presidency announced that Washington has agreed to help Lebanon secure electricity and natural gas from Egypt and Jordan through Syria.

This means that the US is willing to waive sanctions that prohibit any official transactions with the Syrian government that have hampered Lebanon’s previous attempts to secure gas from Egypt.

Lebanon is suffering major fuel shortages, which have impacted various sectors, including hospitals, in light of an economic crisis described by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern times.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Kurdish-Led Forces Push Back Turkish-Backed Syrian Opposition Faction in Tense Offensive

This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Kurdish-Led Forces Push Back Turkish-Backed Syrian Opposition Faction in Tense Offensive

This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows the area in the south of Syria's northern city of Manbij on December 21, 2024. (AFP)

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Tuesday they have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Türkiye.

The SDF is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist ISIS group scattered across the country's east.

Since the fall of the totalitarian rule of Bashar Assad earlier this month, clashes have intensified between the US-backed group and the SNA, which captured the key city of Manbij and the areas surrounding it.

The intense weekslong clashes come at a time when Syria, battered by over a decade of war and economic misery, negotiates its political future following half a century under the Assad dynasty’s rule.

Ruken Jamal, spokesperson of the Women’s Protection Unit, or YPJ, under the SDF, told The Associated Press that their fighters are just over seven miles (11 kilometers) away from the center of Manbij in their ongoing counter-offensive.

She accused Ankara of trying to weaken the group’s influence in negotiations over Syria’s political future through the SNA,

“Syria is now in a new phase, and discussions are underway about the future of the country,” Jamal said. “Türkiye is trying, through its attacks, to distract us with battles and exclude us from the negotiations in Damascus.”

A Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says since the SNA’s offensive in northern Syria against the Kurds started earlier this month, dozens from both sides have been killed.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on Tuesday with Turkish Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler, according to Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. He said they discussed the ongoing situation in Syria, and Austin emphasized that close and continuous coordination is crucial to a successful effort to counter ISIS in the country. They also discussed the importance of setting the conditions to enable a more secure and stable Syria.

Ankara sees the SDF as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it classifies as a terrorist organization. Turkish-backed armed groups alongside Turkish jets for years have attacked positions where the SDF are largely present across northern Syria, in a bid to create a buffer zone free from the group along the large shared border.

While the SNA was involved in the lightning insurgency — led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — that toppled Assad, it has continued its push against the SDF, seen as Syria’s second key actor for its political future.

On Monday, the SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said the group's forces pushed back the Turkish-backed opposition fighters from areas near the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates, a key source of hydroelectric power. He said the SDF also destroyed a tank belonging to the opposition southeast of Manbij.

The British-based war monitor said on Tuesday that the Kurdish-led group, following overnight fighting, has reclaimed four villages in the areas near the strategic dam.

Turkish jets also pounded the strategic border town of Kobani in recent days.

During Syria’s uprising-turned-conflict, the Kurds carved out an enclave of autonomous rule across northeastern Syria, never fully allying entirely with Assad in Damascus nor the opposition trying to overthrow him.

Even with the Assad family out of the picture, it appears that Ankara’s position won’t change, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s landmark visit to Syria maintaining a strong position on the Kurdish-led group in his meeting with de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa of HTS.

“It has turned the region into a cauldron of terror with PKK members and far-left groups who have come from Türkiye, Iraq, Iran and Europe," Fidan said in a news conference after the meeting. “The international community is turning a blind eye to this lawlessness because of the wardenship it provides (against ISIS).”

With the ongoing fighting, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi has expressed concern about a strong ISIS resurgence due to the power vacuum in Syria and the ongoing fighting, which has left the Kurdish-led group unable to carry out its attacks and raids on the extremist group’s scattered sleeper cells.

Tens of thousands of children, family members, and supporters of ISIS militants are still held in large detention centers in northeastern Syria, in areas under SDF control.