Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Speaker of the Syrian People’s Assembly Hammoudeh Sabbagh met on Sunday with a visiting delegation from the Jordanian Engineers Association.

Sources in the Syrian capital quoted Sabbagh as underlining the importance of strengthening relations and exchanging experiences between trade unions and professional associations in Syria and Jordan.

He added that the delegation’s visit to Syria was a “true expression of solidarity and support for the Syrian people in the war targeting it, highlighting the deep social and kinship relations binding the Syrian and Jordanian peoples.”

The head of the delegation, Ahmad al-Zoubi, said the association was ready to support the Syrian people during the reconstruction and rebuilding stage, especially in the fields of electricity and renewable energy.

During the visit, the Jordanian and Syrian engineers unions signed an agreement to cooperate and facilitate the development of scientific exchange for the first time in years.

Separately, Russia Today quoted Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad as saying that the Arab region “is going through an identity crisis.”

In an interview with an Omani newspaper, Assad noted that the crisis was “a bad weapon marketed among the Arab nationalities.”

He pointed to the Russian experience, emphasizing that after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, which saw Russian citizens turning against their homeland and side with the United States – the new Russian era began with the arrival of President Vladimir Putin, who “restored the state of patriotism.”

Russia Today also quoted him as saying that the Sultanate of Oman “has not cut ties with Damascus since 2011.”

*Asharq Al-awsat