by Hani Hazaimeh | AFP | May 14, 2013 |
AMMAN — The Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the “Friends of Syria” group will meet in Amman next week.
Syrian refugees carry belongings at Cilvegozu border gate go back to Syria on Tuesday (AFP photo)
In a statement to The Jordan Times, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sabah Rafei said that foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the US, Britain, France, Turkey, Germany and Italy will be participating in the meeting, slated for mid-next week.
“The meeting is a follow-up to recent meetings in Istanbul and Abu Dhabi and will discuss the unfortunate events in Syria and coordinate positions and efforts in line with the recent US-Russian agreement to find a political solution to the crisis,” Rafei told The Jordan Times.
Earlier this month, the US and Russia found common ground between them and proposed a peace conference to be held between the Syrian regime and the opposition, in the hopes of finding a political path that will end the bloodshed ongoing in the country.
Although Britain has backed these efforts, France on Tuesday warned that instigating peace in the country through a foreign-backed conference would be “very difficult”, AFP reported.
A diplomatic source has said that a meeting between top officials from the United States, France and Britain will take place on Thursday, with Russia and China participating the day later, according to AFP. It is still unknown where this reported meeting will take place.
During a meeting held in Abu Dhabi late on Monday, the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey insisted that President Bashar Assad should have no role in the future of Syria.
In a statement made after talks were held between the pro-opposition “Friends of Syria” group in Istanbul last month, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Washington will double its assistance to the Syrian opposition. He pledged $250 million to the opposition, and said that the US will increase the amount of non-lethal military supplies that it provides to rebel fighters.
On Tuesday, during a visit to Stockholm, Kerry added that the US will provide the opposition in Syria with additional assistance if Assad refuses to attend the US-Russia proposed peace conference.
The top officials from the Friends of Syria group have warned Assad that they would increase their support of the opposition if he continued to reject efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
SOURCE: JORDAN TIMES
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Jordan, Syria