Expelling ambassador will not affect Jordan-Syria ties — analysts

AMMAN — The expulsion of the Syrian ambassador Bahjat Suleiman should not be seen as a serious crisis in Amman-Damascus ties as the move targeted the person of the ambassador, not his country, politicians and media analysts said Tuesday.

“The ambassador’s actions and offensive remarks violated all diplomatic norms and he was warned repeatedly. The expulsion targets the ambassador himself and has nothing to do with the political relationship between Jordan and Syria,” former foreign minister Kamel Abu Jaber told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

“Jordan and Syria are interdependent on each other and I do not expect relations to get worse; they need to maintain a minimum level of a relationship,” said Abu Jaber.

Analysts interviewed by The Jordan Times blamed the Syrian government for not preventing the ambassador from repeating offensive statements about Jordan, its institutions and allies since the crisis erupted more than three years ago. 

They also said no further escalation is expected and the door remains open to Syria to send a new ambassador to replace Suleiman, reportedly a veteran intelligence general.

It was one of the rare times for Amman to declare an ambassador in Jordan as persona non grata, but in the late 1990s Jordan asked seven Iraqi diplomats to leave Jordan and announced them as persona non grata after Iraq executed four Jordanians who were in jail and did not notify Jordan.

Jawad Anani, former Royal Court chief and several-time minister, said Suleiman should have been asked to leave a long time ago due to his repeated offensive remarks against Jordan and figures in the country.

“Jordan used all options before it took the final move. It warned the ambassador repeatedly.  It even asked the Syrian foreign ministry to intervene to discipline him, but to no avail. The ambassador left no other option for Jordan, which delayed his expulsion to avoid any misinterpretation of this measure,” Anani told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

In several remarks last year issued through social networking sites and in statements, the controversial diplomat insulted a former media minister, accusing him of collaborating with the Israeli Mossad secret service.

Also last year, Suleiman labelled an MP as a “mercenary and a fool”.  

“Expelling the ambassador has nothing to do with Jordan’s relationship with Syria, which is built on strategic and mutual interests and not on emotions,” Anani said.

In its editorial, Al Rai Arabic daily said expelling the ambassador was not a decision taken overnight but rather an accumulation of practices that reached a point that made it impossible to tolerate the ambassador’s actions any longer. 

“Jordan was keen to put an end to any misinterpretations of the expulsion of the ambassador and stressed that the legitimate move targeted the ambassador himself and does not affect the normal ties between Jordan and Syria. The embassy was not closed and no other diplomats were asked to leave,” Al Rai said.

Jumana Ghunaimat, Al Ghad’s chief editor, said in her column Tuesday that the decision was taken after Amman ran out of patience.

His actions were provocative and he crossed all the lines, she said, pointing out that the departure of Sulieman does not mean the closure of the embassy as there are mutual interests and 1.3 million Syrians residing in Jordan.

Some proposed opening an office to the Syrian National Coalition instead of the embassy to provide services for the Syrians, but this is not likely at this stage as the burdens Jordan is shouldering and the complex relations with Syria are not similar to those of other countries that opened offices for the coalition, said Ghunaimat.

Ad Dustour also said in its editorial the decision does not mean severing ties with Syria, and Amman will certainly maintain its consistent position, calling for a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves the country’s unity and ensure the return of refugees.