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Ammon News - by Khaled Neimat | The Jordan Times

AMMAN — A majority of deputies on Monday said they are against any military strike on Syria, calling for meeting with the government to discuss the situation and its consequences on Jordan.

Seventy-seven MPs signed a memorandum addressed to Lower House Speaker Saad Hayel Srour to be forwarded to the government, in which they requested setting a date for this meeting.

In the memo, the signatories said they want to be briefed on the authorities' preparations and precautions in response to any strike should it takes place.

The MPs also seek to know the government's political position towards such action against Syria, expected to be led by the US.

"As we are against any foreign intervention or military strike against Syria, we also condemn the ongoing killing and forced displacement there," the deputies said in their memo.

They called on all parties of the Syrian crisis to engage in political dialogue in order to end the bloodshed, which has taken the lives of around 110,000 people since it started in 2011, according to UN estimates.

MP Khalil Atiyeh, first deputy of the Lower House speaker, led this effort, with support from a majority of the 150-member Chamber.

The request was given urgency status with the strike seen as imminent, according to several MPs who signed on the memo.

The move came following the first meeting of Parliament's extraordinary session, which started on Sunday.

Government officials have repeatedly said that Jordan is committed to a peaceful political solution to the Syrian crisis that guarantees its territorial unity and the safety of its people, stressing that the Kingdom will not be used as a “launch pad” for any military intervention in Syria.