Arab Ministers Call for Syria to Regain Control of Its Territory

The foreign ministers of Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia met in Amman Monday

The foreign ministers of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt met in Amman on Monday to discuss a solution to the crisis in Syria in the latest step towards Damascus fully normalizing with regional countries.

The ministers released a joint statement expressing support for Syria to regain control of all of its territory, which includes the area of eastern Syria occupied by US forces.

According to the statement, the ministers agreed to work to “support Syria and its institutions in any legitimate efforts to extend its control over its lands and impose the rule of law, and end the presence of armed and terrorist groups on Syrian lands, and stop foreign interference in Syrian internal affairs.”

The ministers support working to “gradually reach a political solution that ends the suffering of the brotherly Syrian people and the catastrophic consequences of the Syrian crisis, achieves national reconciliation, and puts Syria on the road to reconstruction.” They agreed to establish working groups to build on the progress made in the meeting.

“This meeting is the beginning of an Arab-led political path to reach a solution to the crisis,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said of the meeting.

Saudi Arabia and Jordan have been leading an effort to bring Syria back into the Arab League, which Damascus was expelled from in 2011. The US is strongly opposed to these efforts as it prefers to keep Syria isolated under crippling economic sanctions, which are designed to prevent the country’s reconstruction.

On top of the sanctions, the US has about 900 troops in eastern Syria and backs the Kurdish-led SDF, allowing the US to control about one-third of Syrian territory, an area where most of Syria’s oil resources are located. If Syria normalizes with more regional countries, the US would likely come under pressure from its Arab allies to withdraw and lift the sanctions.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.