Jordanian FM, French envoy for Syria hold talks

AMMAN

French special envoy for Syria Francois Senemaud and Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Tuesday discussed efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis, according to Jordanian media.

The talks in the Jordanian capital follows “the positive outcome of a conference organized by the European Union and the United Nations on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region in Brussels last week,” the state-run news agency Petra said in a report.

Safadi “briefed the French envoy on the pressures that the Syrian refugee crisis placed on Jordan's vital sectors”, it added.

They also agreed to “pursue coordination, both at the bilateral level and through the Small Group on Syria, to intensify efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis in line with resolution 2254 that preserves Syria's unity and paves the way for the voluntary return of refugees to their country,” according to the news agency.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

This led to a military conflict between the Syrian opposition groups and the Assad regime over the war-torn country’s territory.

Peace talks were launched in Geneva in 2012 aiming to find a political solution for the conflict while Astana talks began in 2017 discussing ceasefire that has been fragile so far.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas while millions more were displaced.

During the conflict, Assad regime was accused many times by several international actors of targeting Syrian civilians by chemical weapons.