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Jordan Hosts Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership on Tuesday

General view showing empty streets in Amman, Jordan October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed/File Photo
General view showing empty streets in Amman, Jordan October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed/File Photo
    Amman, Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Jordan Hosts Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership on Tuesday

General view showing empty streets in Amman, Jordan October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed/File Photo
General view showing empty streets in Amman, Jordan October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed/File Photo

Jordan will host the second session of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership on Tuesday.

The event's first session was held in Baghdad in August last year upon the invitation of King Abdullah II, in coordination with French President Emmanuel Macron and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who both attended the session, according to Petra news agency.

The conference will feature the participation of a number of leaders and representatives of countries and regional organizations.

Participating countries include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Turkey, and Iran.

The Secretary-General of the Arab League, the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, representatives from the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the EU will also take part in the conference.

The opening session of the conference will witness the participation of Arab and EU ambassadors, the 20G, and the permanent members of the Security Council accredited to the Kingdom.

The conference, meant to reiterate support for Iraq's sovereignty, security, and stability, aims to set cooperation mechanisms to enhance regional security and stability and push forward the development process.

Sudani held a press conference in Baghdad during which he spoke about his participation at the conference.

He also confirmed the increase in the exchange rates of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar.

He pointed out that “the government was and is still monitoring the central bank’s policy to ensure market stability,” revealing that “the Iraqi Central Bank’s reserves of foreign currency amounted to 96 billion dollars.”

Al-Sudani said: “The financial situation in Iraq is at its best.”

Regarding the smuggling of oil derivatives, the PM announced the confiscation of more than 1,781,000 liters of oil derivatives, the dismantling of a large number of smuggling networks, and the arrest of 18 members of these networks.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.