Jordan’s Syria blacklist blasted by key players
Wide criticism has already emerged of the Jordanian list of terrorist groups in Syria, and some observers believe the initiative never had a chance.
Even before Jordan submitted a proposed list of terrorist organizations in Syria to the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) on Dec. 18 in New York, Amman had come under pressure from various players associated with the conflict, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
The task was assigned to Jordan as coordinator on Nov. 15 following an ISSG meeting in Vienna. The goal was to separate moderate Syrian groups from terrorist organizations to exclude the latter from future peace negotiations between the Damascus regime and the opposition.
But as soon as Jordan submitted the list, accusations and criticism began from most sides. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the list on Dec. 19, saying, “Taking into account the rather motley composition of the Vienna group, within the framework of which many countries occupy diametrically opposite positions, the list is very contradictory.”
The ISSG meeting in New York was unable to adopt the list, which contained 160 groups, pending further consultation.
