Missing couple arrives at Jaber border crossing with Syria

AMMAN — The Jordanian citizen and his wife, declared missing in Syria since May 11, arrived at the Jaber border crossing on Saturday morning, according to Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sufian Qudah.

Syrian authorities released the couple on Friday, Qudah said in a Foreign Ministry statement.

Last month, the ministry called on the Syrian government to immediately release all Jordanian detainees and commit to international laws applicable in such cases.

Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry Zeid Louzi, in April, conveyed to the Syria Jordan’s dismay with the recurrent arrests of Jordanians.

At a meeting with Syrian Chargé d’Affaires in Amman Ayman Alloush, Louzi underlined the illegality of detaining Jordanians without proper disclosure of cause.

MP Khalid Abu Hassan told local media outlets that Syrian authorities arrested the Jordanian couple because they took photos in restricted areas.

Abu Hassan said that he contacted Syrian MPs who, in return, acquainted the office of Syrian President Bashar Assad with the issue, where the president ordered their immediate release unless they were wanted for other lawsuits.

The Foreign Ministry, in a statement last Sunday, said that the family of Saddam Bani Abdul Ghani and his wife had informed the ministry that they had lost contact with them while they were in Syria.

International law obliges a country that detains the citizens of another country to notify the latter and to disclose the cause, location and circumstances of the arrest.

The detaining authorities are also obliged to facilitate a consular visit by embassy personnel to check on the detainees’ conditions, a ministry statement issued at the time said.

Louzi expressed hope that the Syrian government will respond to Jordan’s demands, and those of the detainees’ families, to immediately release them.

In case the Syrian authorities suspect a Jordanian national, they must be deported back to Jordan and denied re-entry to Syria, he explained.

Allowing them entry and then arresting them is an “unacceptable” practice, the secretary general highlighted at the time.

That was the fourth time the Syrian chargé d’affaires had been summoned to request the release of detained Jordanians in Syria, Qudah remarked.

The spokesperson noted that, since the reopening of borders in mid-October, Syrian authorities have arrested more than 30 Jordanians.