DOHA: Qatar began supplying Syria with gas via Jordan, state media in the gas-rich country reported Thursday, as Damascus’s new leadership seeks economic relief for the war-torn country long prone to power cuts.
“Qatar has started today providing… natural gas supplies to the Syrian Arab Republic through the territories of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported. The new authorities in Damascus, who seized power from longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, have sought to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and economy after almost 14 years of civil war.
Citing a statement by the Qatar Fund for Development, QNA reported the initiative “will generate up to 400 megawatts of electricity per day in the first phase, with production capacity set to increase gradually at the “Deir Ali station in Syria”.
The power would be distributed to provinces including the capital Damascus, its countryside, Sweida, Daraa, Quneitra, Homs, Hama, Tartus, Latakia, Aleppo and Deir Ezzor, QNA said.
Jordanian Energy Minister Saleh Kharabsheh told the official Petra news agency the initiative was “entirely funded” by the Qataris.
A source with knowledge of the deal explained a grant was provided by the Qatari fund “to the ministry of energy and mineral resources of Jordan to supply natural gas” to Syria.
Syrian Electricity Minister Omar Shaqrouq confirmed the deliveries, telling state news agency SANA that they would “improve power supply and increase it by two to four hours a day”.
“These supplies will be transmitted through the Arab Gas Pipeline that passes through the territory of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” he added.
The Qatari move came on the orders of the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, who in January became the first head of state to visit Damascus after Assad’s overthrow and vowed to support the rehabilitation of Syrian infrastructure.
Like its ally Turkey, Qatar has close relations with Syria’s interim government.
Unlike other Arab countries, Qatar did not restore diplomatic ties with Assad’s Syria when it was readmitted to the Arab League in 2023.
Qatar was the second country, after Turkey, to reopen its embassy in Damascus following Assad’s ouster. It has urged the lifting of sanctions.
In January, Syria’s electricity chief said two powerships were being sent from Turkey and Qatar to increase supply after the United States eased sanctions, allowing fuel and electricity donations to Syria for six months.
The civil war caused heavy damage to Syria’s power infrastructure, leading to cuts that can last for more than 20 hours a day.
Syria has lobbied the West to lift sanctions especially on the financial sector while trying to assure the international community they will respect minority rights.
Confidence in the new authorities has been deeply shaken by a wave of mass killings of civilians by security forces this month, which targeted members of the Alawite minority to which Assad belongs.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said nearly 1,400 civilians have been killed by the security forces or allied groups.
