Jordan pushing Arab peace plan to end Syria conflict

A source close to the situation claimed Jordan was pushing a joint Arab peace plan ahead of a Friday conference to discuss Syria’s readmission to the Arab League.

After years of failed international efforts to resolve the bloody conflict, Saudi Arabia will host a meeting in Jeddah with foreign ministers from Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to discuss launching a leading Arab role.

Syria was suspended from the Arab League after President Bashar al Assad’s violent crackdown on peaceful protestors.

The official told Reuters that the kingdom proposed forming a joint Arab committee that “would directly engage the Syrian government on a detailed plan to end the conflict”.

“The detailed roadmap deals with all the key issues…and solving the crisis so that Syria can restore its role in the region and rejoin the Arab league,” he said.

Jordan was one of the first Arab states to criticize Assad’s handling of the violent struggle, saying after he took control nearly two years ago that the conflict needed to be resolved.

The Jordanian-inspired roadmap’s “step-for-step” strategy to ending the conflict and allowing Syria to rejoin the Arab League was based on his country’s 1.3 million Syrian refugees.

The senior official said the road map was essential to “tackle the humanitarian, security and political consequences of the conflict.”

The battle brought in many international nations and killed hundreds of thousands of people.

In February, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Assad in Damascus to discuss the peace plan.

Following a terrible earthquake in Turkey and Syria, Abu Dhabi and Oman also accepted Assad.

Saudi Arabia, which has traditionally opposed normalization with Assad, said a fresh approach was needed with Damascus after a thaw with Iran, Syria’s primary regional partner.

In a historic visit, Riyadh met with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Wednesday and agreed to restore embassies.

The insider said Jordan shared the proposal with its partner Washington and major European countries, adding that a big concern was the return of millions of Syrian refugees, many of whom fear reprisals.

The official said the West’s help was critical to ending the crisis and lifting U.S. and European sanctions on Syria to allow major reconstruction and humanitarian supplies.

The strategy also calls for national reconciliation and Damascus to account for the fate of tens of thousands of missing throughout the conflict, many of whom Western rights groups fear killed in detention centers.

The insider stated that Jordan and Arab governments were concerned about “sectarian militias,” meaning Hezbollah-led pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias. Both Amman and Riyadh accuse pro-Iranian militias of running a multi-billion dollar drug trade to Jordan and the Gulf through Syria’s southern borders. Syria claims innocence.

“We want this crisis to end, restoring security and stability to Syria is essential for regional security,” said the senior official.