Jordan nabs Syria-bound jihadists

A top Jordanian Salafist leader said on Tuesday eight jihadists have been arrested as they tried to cross the border into neighbouring Syria to fight President Bashar Al Assad's forces.

"The Jordanian authorities have recently arrested eight jihadists as they attempted to go to Syria for jihad. They are currently in the Zarqa prison waiting for prosecutors to charge them," Abed Shehadeh, known as Abu Mohammad Tahawi, said.

"They decided to go to Syria on their own. We did not give them any orders. But all Muslims in the world, not only in Jordan, should go for jihad in Syria and defend their brothers there," said Tahawi.

Tahawi did not say when the men were arrested, and government officials were not available for comment.

Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood has urged support for the Syrian rebels, calling it an "Islamic duty."

Syrian insurgents and analysts have said foreign jihadists are fighting alongside against Assad's forces but their numbers are hard to assess and almost certainly small.

Damascus has repeatedly claimed that Al-Qaeda was involved in the uprising.

Damascus holding journalists: Turkey

Meanwhile, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on the Damascus regime to account for the fate of two Turkish journalists missing in neighbouring Syria since March.

"The two Turkish journalists are still in the hands of Syrians, in a prisoner position," Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament.

"They have not yet been freed. The Syrian administration must answer for this," he said.

Freelance cameraman Hamit Coskun and Adem Ozkose from the Istanbul-based ‘Milat’ newspaper had travelled to rebel stronghold Idlib near the Turkish border in early March to cover the deadly violence rocking Syria.

Turkey has been working relentlessly to locate and repatriate the two journalists.

The pair were reportedly handed over to Syrian intelligence by a pro-regime militia last month. Coskun was claimed to have been tortured, according to local media.

Ankara has urged thousands of Turkish nationals to leave Syria.

Turkey, which has broken alliance with Damascus, is pessimistic about the chances of Damascus living up to his commitment to pull its armed forces out of protest hubs, as laid out in international mediator Kofi Annan's peace plan.

"The Syrian administration is currently playing for time," said Erdogan.

Mission difficult:UN advance team chief

Advance team leader Colonel Ahmed Himmiche acknowledged on Tuesday that a hard-won UN military observer mission to oversee a Syria ceasefire will be "difficult."

"We need to move forward little step by little step," the Moroccan officer told reporters.

"It is not easy and it will require coordination with all sides, firstly with the Syrian government and then with the other sides.

"It's a difficult mission that needs coordination and planning," added Himmiche, who heads a six-strong advance team that arrived in Damascus on Sunday to prepare for a 30-strong observer mission approved by the UN Security Council late last week.

UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan wants the mission's numbers to swell to more than 250, but Saturday's resolution approves only the initial 30 and Security Council diplomats have said that reinforcement will depend on compliance with the ceasefire that went into force last Thursday.

That truce remained shaky on Tuesday with two civilians killed in a fresh bombardment by regime forces of a rebel stronghold south of Damascus, following the deaths of 35 people on Monday. "No ceasefire, not even the beginnings of a political process -- this mission will be one of the toughest ever undertaken by the United Nations," Himmiche said.
 

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