AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Officials from Jordan, Syria and the U.S. on Tuesday discussed ways of supporting war-torn Syria’s reconstruction on the basis of improving security after deadly clashes last month.
The meeting in Amman between the foreign ministers of Jordan and Syria and U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack came after talks were held by the same sides on July 18. Those discussions focused on a ceasefire that ended days of clashes between pro-government gunmen and fighters from the country’s Druze minority in Sweida province that borders Jordan, leaving hundreds of people dead.
In addition to the security challenges that Syria still faces since the fall of Bashar Assad’s government in December, the country faces major economic and social challenges. In 2017, the United Nations estimated that it would cost at least $250 billion to rebuild Syria after years of civil war. Some experts now say that number could reach at least $400 billion.
Over the past few months, several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others pledged investments worth billions of dollars to rebuild Syria’s infrastructure.
In neighboring Iraq, Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir discussed with Iraqi counterpart Hayan abdel-Ghani the possibility of reactivating an oil pipeline between the oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk and Syria’s coastal town of Baniyas, which is home to one of the country’s two oil refineries.
Syrian state news agency SANA quoted al-Bashir as saying that Syria imports 3 million barrels of oil a month in addition to its own production to cover local consumption.
Abdel-Ghani said that the two countries can study whether it is possible to reactivate the oil pipeline that suffered wide damage during wars in both countries or build a new one, according to SANA.
Before the war broke out in 2011, the oil sector was a pillar of Syria’s economy, with the country producing about 380,000 barrels a day, and exports — mostly to Europe — bringing in more than $3 billion in 2010. Since then, the sector has suffered widely.
