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Syria Jordan
The February 1985 agreement between King Hussein of Jordan
and Yasir Arafat of the PLO to form a joint delegation to
negotiate with Israel was anathema to Syrian policy as outlined
in the Assad Doctrine. Consequently, Syria exerted strong
political pressure on Jordan to change its stance. For example,
observers accused Syria of unleashing dissident Palestinian
terrorists of the Abu Nidal organization, which it controlled,
against Jordanian targets in retaliation for Jordan's pursuit of
an independent policy. Syria also spread propaganda to persuade
Jordanians that their king was giving in to Israeli demands
without getting concessions from Israel. Syria also convinced
other Arab rulers that Jordan was treacherously dealing with
Israel. Within a year, Syria seemed to have succeeded in weaning
Jordan from the moderate camp and bringing it into the Syrian
sphere.
The December 30, 1985, visit by King Hussein to Damascus
marked the end of seven years of unremitting hostility between
the two nations. In conformity with the Assad Doctrine, Jordan
renounced "partial, separate, and direct talks with Israel" and
issued an abject apology and admission of guilt for having
harbored and supported anti-Syrian Muslim Brotherhood terrorists
in the early 1980s
(see Ethnic and Religious Opposition Movements
, ch. 5).
Data as of April 1987
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