On King Abdullah's visit to Syria
Jordan's King Abdullah Bin Hussein arrived in Syria this morning for an official visit as part of an Arab tour that has included Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Libya.
King Abdullah said the visit to Damascus is the first page in the new relations between the two countries.
The London-based Middle East daily said that well-informed Jordanian sources expected Jordan's King Abdullah Bin Hussein to mediate for reconciliation between Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, during the King's official visit to Syria today.
The same sources indicated that the Jordanian and Syrian sides will assert backing for Lebanon and the cohesion between the Syrian and Lebanese tracks in the Middle East peace process. The sources also expected that Lebanese President Emile Lahoud will visit Damascus, and that a tripartite summit was to be held between the Lebanese president, King Abdullah and President al-Assad to confirm this very position.
The sources explained that the Jordanian - Syrian higher committee will hold their meetings at the end of the current month to discuss several trade, cultural and economic issues between the two states as well as to facilitate the movements of the two states' citizens and to resume embarking on the use of "the identity card" instead of passports in travel between Damascus and Amman.
On the other hand, well-informed sources told the Middle East daily that the Syrian government agreed to supply Jordan with large quantities of (al-Shaffeh) for the coming Summer despite the state of drought prevailing the region.
Furthermore, well-informed Jordanian sources said that Jordan has officially proposed joining the mechanism of the tripartite co-operation between Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, made at the initiative of Jordan's King Abdullah during his recent meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. During the meeting King Abdullah pledged to implement the ten points stated by the Arab summit of Alexandria in 1993.