by Taylor Luck, Jordan Times

AMMAN — Jordan downplayed reports of rising tensions with Damascus on Sunday, refuting accusations by Syrian officials of Jordanian support for rebel forces.

A woman reads the Koran next to the grave of a relative buried in a public park in Syria’s eastern city of Deir Ezzor on March 11 (AFP photo)

Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Samih Maaytah contested reports of Jordanian support for jihadist and rebel forces in Syria, stressing that Amman has not veered from its declared policy “against interference in Syrian affairs” and in support of Syria’s stability.

“It is not in Jordan’s interest to fan the flames of conflict in Syria and we continue to push for a political solution to stop the bloodshed,” Maaytah told The Jordan Times.

“It is well-known where these weapons and fighters are coming from — they are not coming from Jordan, and Jordan’s efforts to secure the borders is well recognised.”

Maaytah’s comments came in response to a flurry of news reports accusing Jordan of complacency regarding the cross-border flow of Islamist fighters and arms into Syria.

In a report on Sunday, the Syrian state-run daily “The Revolution” accused Jordan of “opening the borders to jihadists”, reiterating previous accusations of Amman allowing Western military powers to use Jordan as a base for Syrian operations.

“Jordan has opened its borders in recent days allowing the passage of jihadists and takfiris into Syria… whereas before it was satisfied with just facilitating the movement of elements trained on its territory directly by US military and intelligence forces,” the daily claimed in the article.

In the editorial, the publication also warned Jordan and Lebanon of playing with “terrorist fire” by aiding the flow of fighters and weapons into Syria.

In a separate report published on Friday, Agence France-Presse quoted an unnamed Syrian security official accusing Jordan of throwing its support behind rebel forces and opening its borders to weapons smugglers and fighters.

Maaytah dismissed reports of growing tensions between Amman and Damascus over border security issues, stressing that Jordan is continuing efforts to “ensure secure borders for both Jordan and Syria”.

Security officials have reportedly enacted a crackdown along the Jordanian-Syrian border in recent weeks in order to curb the flow of Islamist fighters into Syria, having allegedly arrested 30 jihadists since the beginning of the year.

Officials in Amman stress that the flow of Islamist militants into Syria represents a direct “national security threat”, pointing to a foiled Al Qaeda plot unveiled in October targeting Western diplomatic facilities in Amman using weapons from Syria.

Source: The Jordan Times http://jordantimes.com/jordan-downplays-tensions-with-damascus