Jordan arrests 550 Syrians Saturday, 26 November 2011 13:57

AMMAN: Jordanian Minister of State for Information Affairs and Spokesman for the Jordanian Government Rakan Al-Majali said the Jordanian security authorities arrested 550 people who crossed the Syrian border, including 100 recruits.

In a press statement published today Al-Majali said the Syrian recruits entered the country individually and not in an organized way adding that they were not wearing the military gear or ranks when they crossed the border. He said they do not constitute a state of defection and a number of them already left Jordan to other countries.

The Jordanian official added that  about 300 of the arrested Syrians have been released upon pledges by their relatives in Jordan, 25 of them went to other countries while 130 asked to return to Syria, noting that the rest are currently in a shelter centres near the Jordanian-Syrian border.

Majali stressed the absence of Syrian military defectors  in Jordan, pointing out that the recruits who attempted to enter Jordan illegally are serving the mandatory service and in this sense they are not military professionals.

In the same context, Al-Majali pointed to the existence of some of weapon smuggling operations between Jordan and Syria , stressing that the relevant authorities on the border with Syria tightened their  measures to prevent any weapon smuggling operations.(QNA)