MPs call for reinstating Jordan’s ambassador to Damascus, enhancing Amman-Damascus relations

AMMAN — A group of MPs on Tuesday called for reinstating Jordan's ambassador to Damascus and boosting, all-out, ties with Syria.

The lawmakers' call came during Tuesday's Lower House session and during a meeting of Chamber's Foreign Affairs Committee with acting ambassador of Syria to Jordan Ayman Alloush, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Veteran MP Abdulkarim Dughmi, who headed the parliamentary delegation to Damascus in November, called for elevating the diplomatic representation between Jordan and Syria to an ambassadorial level.

Dughmi, of pan-Arab nationalist ideology, called on the government to exert more efforts towards enhancing Amman-Damascus relations.

Calls to reinstate the Kingdom's ambassador to Syria came mostly from the delegation members who met with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In addition to Dughmi, the delegation comprised of MPs Tareq Khouri, Khaled Abu Hassan, Qais Ziadin, Awad Zawaideh, Nidal Taani, Andre Hawari, Haitham Ziadin and Mustafa Yaghi.

Syrian Chargé d’Affaires in Amman Alloush stressed the need to build "brotherly" relations between the two countries, voicing the Syrian leadership's keenness on having strong relations with Jordan in all fields, according to Petra.

Alloush also voiced gratitude for Jordan's humanitarian efforts to the Syrian refugees.

Taani, head of the House's Foreign Affairs Committee called for elevating the diplomatic representation between Jordan and Syria to an ambassadorial level.

In May 2014, Jordan asked Syrian ambassador Bahjat Suleiman to leave the Kingdom within 24 hours, declaring him persona non grata.

At the time, the Foreign Ministry said the decision to expel Suleiman was taken due to his “repeated insults and offences” targeting Jordan and its leadership, institutions and citizens.

In a retaliatory move, Syria informed the Jordanian Embassy in Damascus that the chargé d’affaires in Damascus, Mohammad Amin Abu Jamoos, who was in Amman, was not allowed to
reenter Syria.