AMMAN — Jordan is set to send its team of monitors to Syria as Amman reiterated on Wednesday its calls for an end to the ongoing violence in its northern neighbour.
According to Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Rakan Majali, the team, consisting of 12 members, is the largest single contingent in the Arab League observer mission.
According to sources at the foreign ministry, several of the monitors have already been dispatched with the remaining cadres “on their way” to Syria.
Jordan’s monitoring mission is to comprise veteran lawyers, human rights activists and retired servicemen with prior experience in peacekeeping and monitoring missions, Majali said.
“This will be a team well-versed in monitoring human rights and it will be prepared to carry out its job,” Majali told The Jordan Times.
Officials expect the Jordanian contingent to be deployed in multiple cities in Syria, stretching from Homs to Daraa.
Also on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh urged for an end to the ongoing bloodshed in Syria, reiterating Amman’s stance against “interference” in the internal affairs of other countries.
In a lecture on the Kingdom’s foreign policy at the Royal Jordanian National Defence College yesterday, Judeh reiterated Amman’s support for efforts to restore stability to the Kingdom’s northern neighbour, underlining the country’s longstanding stance respecting the sovereignty of other nations.
The team of monitors comes as part of Amman’s commitment to the Arab League’s decision, which called on each Arab country to contribute 10 monitors to the mission, which arrived in Syria on Wednesday amidst continued violence.
Jordan’s contribution comes amidst calls by Syrian opposition figures for Amman to take on a greater role in ensuring the security of civilians who have faced a military crackdown that human rights activists estimate has cost over 5,000 lives.
Both the Syrian National Council and the Free Syria Army movement have separately urged Jordan to establish buffer zones along the Kingdom’s northern border to provide a safe haven for civilians and army defectors.
Jordan has repeatedly maintained that it will follow the Arab League plan and international consensus, as Amman attempts to strike what observers refer to as a balance between supporting efforts to end the spiralling violence in Syria while avoiding upsetting strategic relations with Damascus.
