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Jordan seen unlikely to withdraw envoy from Qatar


12-03-2014 02:27 PM

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordan is unlikely to recall its ambassador to Qatar, as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have recently done, analysts say.

They cite "Jordan's diplomatic conservatism," and the impact of such a move on Jordanian expatriates in Qatar.

Amman is also unlikely to label the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, as Riyadh has done, the analysts add.

"There's already a crisis between the Jordanian government and the Brotherhood, plus there are thousands of Jordanian expatriates in Qatar," Mohammad Abu Rumman, a professor of political science, told Al Arabiya News.

"Jordan's Brotherhood has never shown a bloody attitude, nor has it ever demanded regime change like in Egypt," he added.

Analysts have stressed Jordan's detachment from the diplomatic crisis within the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, but emphasized the status of Saudi Arabia as "Amman's first and foremost regional ally."

Jordan is an "inseparable component of the so-called Arab axis of moderation, comprising Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Kuwait, the Fateh-led Palestinian Authority and Lebanon's March 14 alliance," said Abu Rumman.

"Jordan's foreign policy towards regional and international affairs has been within the framework of action consensually agreed by all members of the Saudi-led Arab moderation camp," he added.

Jordan supported the Egyptian military's ouster in July 2013 of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, said Abu Rumman, adding that this has put Amman at odds with Qatar, Turkey and the Brotherhood.

Jordan's King Abdullah was the first Arab leader to visit Egypt and meet with its new rulers following Mursi's ouster.

Seeking solid relations

According to Khaled al-Shaqran, director of the Amman-based Al Rai Center for Strategic Studies, Jordan seeks to maintain "solid diplomatic relations with all regional countries."

However, the foreign policy of Jordan and Saudi Arabia "has always been identical ... always maintaining a high level of cooperation and coordination over many regional and international affairs," Shaqran added.

As examples, he cited opposition to the Brotherhood, supporting the Syrian National Coalition and its military wing the Free Syrian Army, and fighting Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

Amman's closeness to Riyadh has impacted Jordan's ties with Qatar, according to observers.

Amman hoped to see its relationship with gas-rich Qatar improve after Sheikh Tamim took the throne last summer, but no considerable improvement has occurred, analysts say.

Jordan's king was the first Arab leader to visit Doha to congratulate the new emir.

Qatar is the only country that has not yet paid its $1.25 billion contribution to a $5 billion fund allocated by the GCC to Jordan in 2011, though it has pledged to do so.

*Alarabiya




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