Jordan, Russia, US agree on de-escalation zone in Syria

By Laith Joneidi and Safiye Karabacak

AMMAN, Jordan

Amman, Moscow and Washington have agreed to establish a temporary "de-escalation zone" in southern Syria, according to Jordan’s official Petra news agency on Saturday.

Mohammad Momani, Jordan’s media affairs minister, said representatives from the U.S., Russia and Jordan had gathered in the capital Amman and agreed to set up a temporary “de-escalation zone” in southern Syria.

“The de-escalation zone supports the arrangements that the three countries had reached on July 7 to back the cease-fire along the confrontation lines in southwestern Syria,” the news agency quoted Momani as saying.

At Jordan's initiative, the three countries began talks in May, leading to a cease-fire and de-escalation agreement in southern Syria announced in July.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict and more than 10 million displaced, according to the UN.