Jordan says to bar Israel envoy until shooting probed

Mourners carry the body of 17-year-old Mohammed Jawawdeh, who was killed on the weekend when he attacked a security guard at the Israeli embassy compound in the Jordanian capital with a screwdriver, during his funeral in Amman. (AFP)
Updated 28 July 2017
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Jordan says to bar Israel envoy until shooting probed

AMMAN: Jordan will not allow the return of Israel’s ambassador until the shooting of two Jordanians by an embassy security guard has been properly investigated, a government official said Friday.
“Jordan will not allow ambassador Einat Shlein or the rest of the embassy staff to return until a thorough investigation has been opened” into Sunday’s shooting, the official said.
On Thursday, King Abdullah II called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try the guard, who flew home on Monday night with other embassy officials after being briefly questioned by Jordanian investigators.


Lebanon, Jordan seek solutions after Damascus bans non-Syrian trucks

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Lebanon, Jordan seek solutions after Damascus bans non-Syrian trucks

  • Lebanon and Jordan are seeking a solution with Syria after the latter barred foreign trucks from entering its territory, officials from both countries told AFP on Tuesday.
BEIRUT: Lebanon and Jordan are seeking a solution with Syria after the latter barred foreign trucks from entering its territory, officials from both countries told AFP on Tuesday.
Damascus had issued a decision on Saturday stipulating that “non-Syrian trucks will not be allowed to enter” the country, and that goods being imported by road must be unloaded at specific points at border crossings.
The decision exempts trucks that are only passing through Syria to other countries.
Dozens of trucks unable to enter the country were lined up on the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing on Tuesday, an AFP photographer saw.
Ahmad Tamer, head of land and maritime transportation at the Lebanese transport ministry told AFP that discussions were underway with Damascus over the decision.
He said the issue was not specifically targeting Lebanon — which is trying to reset ties with Damascus after the fall of Bashar Assad — adding that he hoped to hold a meeting with the Syrian side soon.
Lebanon sends around 500 trucks to Syria per day, according to Tamer.
In Jordan, also affected by the decision, transport ministry spokesperson Mohammed Al-Dweiri told AFP that “discussions are currently underway, and we are awaiting a response from the Syrian side regarding allowing foreign trucks to enter and cross.”
Dweiri said that Jordanian trucks were continuing to unload their cargo at the free zone at the Nassib border crossing with Syria despite some “confusion.”
Around 250 Jordanian trucks travel to Syria daily, according to him.
A source in the Syrian General Authority for Ports and Customs told AFP that the decision aimed to “regulate the movement of cargo through the ports.”
Representatives of unions and associations in Lebanon’s transport sector denounced the decision on Tuesday and warning of “negative repercussions,” according to the state-run National News Agency.
Syria is the only land route Lebanon can use to export merchandise to wealthy Gulf markets.
As part of continued attempts to rekindle ties, the two countries signed an agreement on Friday to hand around 300 Syrian convicts over to Damascus.