AMMAN: Saudi King Salman and Jordan’s King Abdallah on Monday attended the signing ceremony of a number of agreements, memoranda of understanding (MoU) and joint investment deals worth billions of dollars.
The agreements, signed by government officials from the two sides, include establishing a Saudi-Jordanian investment company valued at some $3 billion, an MoU in postal services offered to Haj and Umrah pilgrims between Saudi Post and its Jordanian counterpart and an agreement on environmental protection. Also signed were agreements on an executive program in the cultural field, a social executive program, an MoU in the health care sector and an MoU in the housing sector. Also included were signings for an investment protection agreement and a SR393.75 million ($105 million) loan agreement to rehabilitate and maintain the Jordanian desert highway that links Amman with the southern city of Aqaba.
The two sides also signed an MoU to study the feasibility of building two reactors operated by integrated-unit technology in Jordan to produce desalinated water and electricity.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and Jordan’s Petra news agency signed a joint cooperation MoU that will enable them to exchange expertise.
Several agreements and MoUs were signed with the Jordanian medical private sector to establish a medical treatment and rehabilitation center in Riyadh, and a project to build and operate a solar station with a capacity to produce 50 megawatts near the eastern Jordanian border.
Earlier, Mohammad Momani, Jordan’s minister of state for media affairs and government spokesman, stressed strong bilateral ties and joint visions on various political, economic and social issues of mutual concern.
“The Saudi-Jordanian Coordination Council, which is headed by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, deputy crown prince and minister of defense, and Jordanian Prime Minister Hani Al-Mulqi, has been created as part of joint coordination in all aspects,” Momani said in a statement on Monday. “We will invest in King Salman’s visit to further boost the currently distinguished ties.”
In statements to Arab News, Reem Badran of Saudi-Jordanian Business Council (SJBC) said Saudi investments in Jordan amount to more than $14 billion, including more than 850 investment projects.
“The Saudi Development Fund has contributed to funding development projects in Jordan by managing and overseeing the Saudi share as part of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) $5 billion 2012-2016 grant, which was given during the GCC meeting in 2011,” she said.
“So far, around $1.154 billion has been spent on different development projects intended to improve the living conditions of the population.”
Jordan’s former minister of state for media affairs, Samih Maaytah, told Arab News on Monday that Saudi Arabia plays an important role not only in the Arab world but also internationally.
Maaytah added: “Over the past year, officials from both countries have been meeting frequently in preparation for this important visit. The Jordanian leadership is keen to keep coordination at all levels with Saudi Arabia at its best, considering that the two countries have common grounds and interests when it comes to the crises that have been hitting our region since 2011.”
King Salman, King Abdallah witness signing of key pacts in Amman
King Salman, King Abdallah witness signing of key pacts in Amman
First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after days of deadly fighting
- The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army
ALEPPO, Syria: First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid Al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
