Jordan hosts Syrian-related consultative meeting

ALBAWABA - A five-way consultative meeting of Arab foreign ministers kicked off in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in the presence of the Syrian foreign minister, to discuss the return of Damascus to the Arab League.

The consultative meeting of the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt and Syria began, in a five-star hotel in the Jordanian capital, Monday afternoon, in the presence of the Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad.

The meeting comes as a continuation of the consultative meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, which took place in Jeddah in mid-April.

According to sources, the five-way meeting will discuss a Jordanian plan to achieve a political settlement to the conflict in Syria.

Media outlets quoted Jordanian officials as saying that the initiative calls on Damascus to engage with Arab governments collectively according to a multi-stage road map.

This consultative meeting brought together a Syrian official and his counterparts in a number of Arab countries for the first time since more than a decade ago.

The Jordanian foreign minister and his Syrian counterpart held a meeting ahead of the commencement of the meeting. 

They discussed the efforts exerted to launch an Arab leadership role to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis based on the Jordanian initiative and other Arab proposals.

The two ministers also discussed many bilateral issues, such as border security, combating drug smuggling, water and refugees. 

Syrian foreign minister's visit to Amman is his first since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011.

In addition to Mekdad and Safadi, the Foreign Minister of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, Iraq's Fuad Hussein, and Saudi Arabia's Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud will participate in the meeting.

The majority of Arab countries supported the suspension of Syria's membership in the Arab League in 2011 after the outbreak of a civil war in Syria, which was launched by opponents who demanded that Syrian President Bashar Assad step down from office.

But most of the Arab countries are now seeking to reach a consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May.19 to discuss the pace of normalization of relations with Syrian president and the conditions for allowing Syria to return to the league.

So far, no information has been released about the details of the ongoing meeting, which is happening under strict security measures. While it is not clear if the ministers will hold a press conference or make any statements after the meeting ends.