Jordan kicked off a series of contacts with Arab countries and officials in wake of its hosting of a meeting of regional envoys on Monday to discuss Syria’s return to the Arab League.
The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and Syria.
Soon after their departure from Amman, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi held a series of telephone talks with his counterparts in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Morocco, Lebanon, Algeria and Tunisia.
A Jordanian Foreign Ministry statement said Safadi briefed them on the details of the "first meeting between Arab countries and Syria since the eruption of the Syrian crisis."
The meeting marked the beginning of a "new political path in efforts to resolve the crisis" by Arab countries, it added.
Damascus is slowly returning to the Arab fold after being ostracized over President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on a peaceful 2011 uprising that descended into a yearslong war. However, as Assad consolidated control over most of the country in recent years, Syria’s neighbors have begun to take steps toward rapprochement.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said the meeting on Monday came as a follow-up to talks with Arab Gulf countries, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt held in Saudi Arabia last month and focused on a "Jordanian initiative to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis."
Saudi Arabia is set to host the next Arab League summit later in May.
Jordanian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Monday’s talks discussed the possibility of a vote on reinstating Syria’s membership in the Arab League.
Countries that have reservations over or oppose Syria’s return could be offered the choice to abstain from the vote, added the sources.
Such an option could facilitate reaching such a major decision that is Syria’s return to the organization and ending the boycott against it, they continued.
This, in turn, could influence the international stance, while Syria is also expected to take tangible steps in ending the war.
It remains to be seen what steps Damascus will take to resolve the conflict in exchange for its return to the Arab League. Jordan’s initiative to end the crisis is based on the "step-for-step" approach.
One of the main issues that were discussed on Monday was Syria’s smuggling of drugs to the region, with demands being made that it crack down on the illegal activity that has become a threat to the countries of the region.
The gatherers on Monday agreed to form a political-security work team comprised of Syrian, Jordanian and Iraqi officials. They would be tasked with determining the sources of drug production in Syria and the sides that are running the smuggling operations to Jordan and Iraq and taking the necessary measures to put a stop to the activity.
Safadi telephoned Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Tuesday to brief him on Monday’s meeting.
Aboul Gheit said he was looking forward to discussing the Syrian crisis during the organization’s upcoming meetings, said an Arab League statement.
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad is set to travel to Baghdad on Saturday at the invitation of his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein.
Informed sources in Damascus said he will meet with President Abdul Latif Rashid, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi during his two-day visit, reported Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper.
