MAQAREN, Jordan, 10 February 2004 — Jordan’s King Abdallah and Syrian President Bashar Assad launched a major water project yesterday that had been stalled for several years partly because of political strains between the two Middle East neighbors.
A ceremony marking the start of the Wihdeh, or Unity, Dam preceded Abdallah’s visit to the Syrian capital Damascus for the first time in nearly two years. The meeting, originally scheduled for October, was abruptly postponed for “technical” reasons neither government ever publicly explained.
Jordanian government officials said Abdallah’s talks with Assad, to be interrupted by a lunch banquet, will focus on Middle East peacemaking and the situation in Iraq. The officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, declined to elaborate.
Jordan’s relations with Syria have been lukewarm because of differing approaches to regional Arab-Israeli peacemaking. Jordan, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, has taken a more moderate policy on the protracted Middle East conflict than has Syria.
Visits between Abdallah and Assad - like their predecessors - have been occasional since each leaders took charge of his country in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Abdallah last visited Damascus in March 2002, while Assad’s last visit to his southern neighbor was in October 2001. The two leaders, however, have since met at Arab summits, usually held every March.
At Maqaren, Abdallah and Assad laid a commemorative plaque near the Jordanian bank of the Yarmouk River, whose water is shared by Israel, Jordan and Syria. The stream originates from Syrian mountains and flows into the Jordan River.
The dam, which will provide water for parched Jordan and generate electricity for Syria, has been considered since 1986 although negotiations began in 1953. Its implementation has been hampered by Jordanian-Syrian political strains, lack of funds and Israeli objections.
Israel, however, approved construction of the dam after the conclusion of the peace treaty with Jordan, said Water and Irrigation Minister Hazem Al-Nasser. He said Israel’s access to Yarmouk water will not be affected.
“The dam will boost Jordan’s water supply, but will not resolve our water problem,” Al-Nasser told reporters in Maqaren, 110 kilometers northwest of the Jordanian capital Amman.
He said Jordan expects the dam to store 110 million cubic meters (3.8 billion cubic feet) of water for drinking and irrigation - barely enough to cover the Kingdom’s water shortage.
Al-Nasser said the envisaged cost of the project, which will be up and running by December 2005, is 66 million Jordanian dinars ($93 million). While 10 percent will be paid by the Jordanian government, the remainder will come from soft loans by Gulf Arab funds, he added.
