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The Predictable Problems with Jordan’s Syria Terrorist List

To no one’s surprise the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) was unable to come to agreement on Jordan’s proposed list of 160 terrorist groups that should be precluded from participating in peace negotiations between the Assad regime and the Syrian opposition. Jordan presented the list to the ISSG December 18th, and it was tabled. And on December 25 Qatar’s Foreign Minister announced his country’s opposition to the development of any list before negotiations begin.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with Jordan's King Abdullah II. Jordan relies heavily on financial assistance from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf Sheikdoms. ,REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

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.

On Dec. 20, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized the inclusion of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on the list and expressed surprise at Jordan's decision.

Mohammad Irani, an Iranian official and former ambassador to Jordan, tried to pre-empt the Jordanian list by saying that Iran believes it is the role of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to designate terrorist groups in Syria.

The Iranian news agency Mehr News quoted Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh as saying, “We asked all parties involved in the Syrian situation to suggest the names of groups they believe are carrying out terrorist acts inside Syria, and the name of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was suggested not by Jordan but another country.”

The report went on that Turkey was opposed to the list because only one country had agreed with Turkey on considering the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) a terrorist group. For Ankara, fighting the PKK has become a priority since the peace deal between the two sides fell through last August.

Jordan had briefed Moscow and Washington before submitting the list. Russia announced Dec. 17 that it had submitted the names of 160 terrorist groups to Jordan. US Secretary of State John Kerry was quoted by AFP as saying Dec. 19 that there were still sharp disagreements between the ISSG parties — some of which sponsor armed factions on the ground — as to which groups should be banned.

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A Jordanian government source who requested anonymity told Al-Monitor that Amman had come under pressure from various parties including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. On Dec. 25, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah said that his country was against the creation of any list of terrorist groups operating in Syria before the talks on the Syrian reconciliation begin.

In another pre-emptive move, Saudi Arabia hosted a three-day meeting of the so-called moderate Syrian opposition on Dec. 8 in a bid to unify the groups. The Saudi Gazette reported that the invitations were sent after consultations with most partners and the UN envoy to Syria. It quoted a Saudi Foreign Ministry source as saying that Riyadh “will provide all possible facilities to enable the Syrian opposition to conduct negotiations in an independent manner and come up with a united stance in accordance with the principles agreed upon in the Geneva I statement.”

Among those invited was Ahrar al-Sham, whose designation as a moderate group remains controversial. Syria and Russia consider it a terrorist organization.

Judeh tried to defend his country’s mission by saying that there was consensus among the ISSG that the Islamic State (IS) and Jabhat al-Nusra were terrorist groups. While he admitted that there were differences over the designation of other groups among the 17 member states, he said that the list was not a Jordanian invention, but reflected an international classification of terrorist groups. In addition to the two main groups, Jordan also listed Fajr al-Islam, Jaish al-Islam and Jund al-Aqsa, among others. Some of these groups are fighting IS and work closely with the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Political commentator Mohammad Abu Rumman, an expert on Islamist groups in Syria, described the Jordanian list as “a ticking bomb” in his Dec. 22 column in Al-Ghad. He wrote, “It would be impossible to reach consensus on a unified list because of various conflicting international and regional agendas, differences in defining terrorism and the role of some players in Syria.”

Abu Rumman added that one of the challenges of compiling the list is that some moderate groups, such as the FSA, are allied with Jabhat al-Nusra in areas such as Idlib, Hama and the Latakia countryside. He wrote that Jordan’s mission was “almost impossible from the start.”

Another expert on Islamist movements, Hassan Abu Haniyeh, told Al-Monitor that it is wrong to consider the list a Jordanian document. “It is impossible to get all parties to agree on one list, and Jordan failed to realize how difficult that task will be,” he said.

In his view, the fact that Ahrar al-Sham was not on it will probably lead to the list being dropped altogether. “Qatar and Saudi Arabia want to rehabilitate the group and present it as a moderate one. This will not be accepted by Russia and Iran,” he added.

If Ahrar al-Sham is then listed as a terrorist group, Abu Haniyeh said that most of the key opposition groups, such as the FSA and its allies, will be listed as well.

Political analyst Orieb al-Rintawi is also skeptical about the fate of the list. He told Al-Monitor, “There are ambiguities over the position of the US toward a number of rebel groups as well.” He added, “By arming some groups, like the Kurds, the US is angering Turkey, and I believe Washington is opting to contain those who are fighting IS regardless of anything else.”

Rintawi said that in light of the vague positions of the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar on various groups and players, Jordan’s list will soon become irrelevant.

[Osama Al Sharif is a veteran journalist and political commentator based in Amman, Jordan, who specializes in Middle East issues. He can be reached at alsharif.osama@gmail.com. On Twitter: @plato010

For further information on the group Ahrar al-Sham (The Islamic Movement of the Free Men of Syria) see Ahrar al-Sham’s Apocalyptic Vision for Syria and Beyond at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/ahrar-al-sham-s-apocalyptic-vision-syria-and-beyond.