DAMASCUS: Syria’s transport ministry said Saturday its main border crossing with Jordan would reopen to trade next month for the first time in three years, but Amman said consultations were still ongoing.
The ministry had announced on Saturday morning that the Nassib crossing, known as Jaber on the Jordanian side, was functional.
It clarified in an afternoon statement carried by state news agency SANA that authorities had “completed logistical preparations to reopen the Nasib border crossing with Jordan on October 10”.
Jordanian government spokeswoman Jumana Ghneimat said Saturday the “Jaber-Nassib crossing remains closed,” and no goods or travelers had passed through.
“The technical meetings to open the border are ongoing. Reopening it requires infrastructure, as well as logistical and technical standards, to be in place,” state media quoted her as saying.
Government troops retook the Syrian side of the crossing in July under a deal with rebel fighters brokered by Damascus ally Moscow.
It had been sealed completely since rebels overran it in April 2015, choking off one of the most important trade routes for the government.