AMMAN — Syria's regime sternly warned neighboring Jordan Thursday that it was “playing with fire” by allowing the US and other countries to train and arm rebels on its territory. Jordan, America's closest ally in the Arab World, has long been nervous that President Bashar Al-Assad's hard-line regime could retaliate for supporting the rebels. The warning carried on state media may add to those jitters, though Jordanian government officials publicly downplayed it as “mere speculation by the Syrian media.” Syrian state television said leaks in US media show Jordan “has a hand in training terrorists and then facilitating their entry into Syria.” State radio accused Jordan of “playing with fire.” A front-page editorial in the government daily Al-Thawra accused Amman of adopting a policy of “ambiguity” by training the rebels while at the same time publicly insisting on a “political solution” to the Syrian crisis. “Jordan's attempt to put out the flame from the leaked information will not help as it continues with its mysterious policy, which brings it closer to the volcanic crater,” the paper said. Two Jordanian officials downplayed the diplomatic tiff with Syria. One said Jordan will not discuss the state of relations through the media. “Such discussions are usually carried out through the appropriate diplomatic channels,' he said. Both officials insisted on anonymity out of concern that their comments may further irritate relations, which have been historically bumpy. Jordan has long been concerned that the Assad regime could use chemical weapons against it, or that agents linked to the regime or its allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah could attack the kingdom. The Syrian warnings appeared to reflect the regime's concerns about statements by US and other Western and Arab officials saying Jordan has been facilitating arms shipments and hosting training camps for Syrian rebels since last October. In the latest fighting in the south, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighters seized most parts of Karak neighborhood in the province of Daraa after several days of fighting. Daraa province borders Jordan and its provincial capital of the same name was the birthplace of the uprising against Assad two years ago. There were also heavy clashes reported in the town of Sheik Maskeen, which is on the route from the Jordanian capital Amman to Damascus. Daraa is 115 km south of Damascus. The observatory, an anti-regime activist group, also reported clashes at a checkpoint outside a camp for displaced Syrians on the outskirts of the city of Daraa. It said rockets fell inside the camp, but did not say who fired them, or how many people died. On Wednesday, opposition fighters captured a military base outside the city of Daraa. That victory followed the rebel takeover of Dael, one of the province's bigger towns, and another air defense base in the area late last month. Their aim is to secure a corridor from the Jordanian border to Damascus in preparation for an eventual assault on the capital. And they have made major progress along the way. Activists say several towns and villages along the Daraa-Damascus route are now in rebel hands. — AP
