Jordan’s foreign minister arrives in Syria for 2nd visit

AMMAN, Jordan

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi arrived in Damascus on Monday, for the second such visit to Syria since February.

Safadi will meet with head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad during his visit, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The top Jordanian diplomat will also hold talks with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad on efforts to solve the Syrian crisis and a host of bilateral issues, the statement added.

Safadi had visited Syria last February.

Monday’s visit comes amid growing concerns in Jordan over drug smuggling operations across the border between the kingdom and Syria.

Jordan shares a 375-km porous border with war-torn Syria.

The country has seen hundreds of attempts to smuggle drugs in recent years as a result of the deteriorating security conditions in next-door Syria.

Last month, Jordan used drones to thwart three attempts to smuggle drugs into the country from Syria.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi