Jordan dispatched its foreign minister to Syria to discuss aid after last week’s earthquakes, the first time it has sent a top official there since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011.
(Bloomberg) —
Jordan dispatched its foreign minister to Syria to discuss aid after last week’s earthquakes, the first time it has sent a top official there since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011.
Ayman Safadi will travel to Syria and Turkey to show solidarity and discuss humanitarian needs, the Jordanian foreign ministry said in a statement. The Feb. 6 twin earthquakes killed more than 40,000 people in both countries.
Jordan, which shares a border with Syria, has already been working to provide disaster aid. It has been hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees since 2011. Relations soured after President Bashar Al-Assad’s brutal crack down on the uprising.
The trip to Syria comes as a debate rages between Syria and world powers over aid access, sanctions and the future of Al-Assad and the country.
Quake Aid Is Political Pawn as Powers Clash Over Syria Access
While supplies have flowed into heavily damaged regions in Turkey, aid deliveries to tens of thousands of Syrians have been stymied by infighting between rival powers in the country’s more than decade-long war. Those affected are mainly in areas controlled by anti-government forces, and are in need of urgent supplies, aid workers say.
Turkey Closes In on Russia-Backed Assad Deal in Blow for US
Turkey, Russia and the United Arab Emirates are redoubling efforts to rehabilitate Al-Assad, and shape the war in his country to the detriment of US-backed forces.
–With assistance from Tarek El-Tablawy.
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