Report: Damascus to be King Abdullah's first stop on Arab tour
Syria-Jordan, Politics, 2/22/1999

The United Arab Emirates al-Bayan daily, issued in Dubai on Saturday, quoted Syrian sources as saying that Damascus will be the first stop on the tour King Abdullah of Jordan intends to conduct of the Arab states.

The sources added that King Abdullah wants to assert through his expected visit to Damascus "his country's deisre to improve relations with Syria and to exchange with the Syrian leadership the same desire to eliminate reasons of coolness between the two countries."

The paper added that Syrian-Jordanian relations will witness important developments within the coming days, following the visit of the Jordanian king to Damascus. These developments, the paper added, will be through two parallel lines: the meeting of the joint higher committee under the chairmanship of the two states' premiers in Amman to discuss prospects of economic and water cooperation through reviving the "al-Wahda dam" project for the investment of al-Yarmouk river water and obstacles hindering the work progress of joint companies and establishments including the Syrian-Jordanian free zone area in Syria's southern Daraa province and other joint projects.

The paper added that the second line is the exchange of visits and meetings on the political level in order to strengthen factors of confidence and understanding.

Syrian circles stress that the Syrian leadership shows a great desire to achieve a qualitative turning point in the march of relations with Jordan as well as to return to the policy of integration and coordination in order to achieve joint interests. The paper added that, "Damascus takes into account that there are very firm relations between Jordan and Israel, but it sees that there is a new era in Jordan and there should be a lot of positive and calm attitudes."

The paper concluded by saying that according to Syrian sources, the task of Syria and the Arab states -- in particular Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- is to contain the Israeli pressures and restore Jordan to practicing its role as before within the Arab context.

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