Reopening of Iraq border crossing expected ‘within two weeks’ — envoy

AMMAN — Turaibil border crossing between Jordan and Iraq is expected to be reopened in less than two weeks, an Iraqi diplomat said on Saturday.

Late Thursday, Iraq's military announced it had retaken the remote western town of Rutba, an Iraqi town across the border with Jordan, in an operation launched this week to cut off the militants' supply route to neighbouring Syria. 

“The border crossing will be reopened in less than two weeks, after completing clearance of landmines and remnants of war,” Safia Al Souhail, Iraq’s ambassador to the Kingdom, told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

Souhail added that the logistic and administrative preparations to reopen the crossings are already complete and other issues depend on the security measures on roads.

The ambassador said her country is very keen to reopen the crossing border after freeing Rutba town as it will be an entrance for what is needed to the reconstruction of Anbar province.

Meanwhile Mohammad Momani, minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications, didn’t specify a date for the opening of the border crossing. However, he said: “We hope that the crossing will open sooner than later, because it is of crucial benefit to both Iraq and Jordan.”

“We congratulate the Iraqis on the strategic victory which shows we are on the right path regarding the fight against  terrorism”, Momani told The Jordan Times over the phone on Saturday.

The closure was blamed on the security situation across the border after Daesh took control of the area in 2014, leaving the Jordanian economy staggering as Iraq is a major market for locally made products, including agricultural exports.

Jordan’s exports to Iraq in 2015 stood at $690 million compared to $1.16 billion in 2014.

“Our exports to Iraq used to exceed JD1 billion a year and they dropped by 50 per cent after the closure of the crossing”, Vice Chairman of Jordan Chamber of Industry Fathi Jaghbir told The Jordan Times.

Over the past two years, Jordan’s exports to Iraq used to go either through the sea (all the way through Red Sea, Arabian Sea and the Arabian Gulf) or by land through Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, he added.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times, Issa Murad, president of Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) said certificates of origin issued by ACC to Iraq stood at (634) certificates with an amount of JD96.5 million since the beginning of the year, a drop of 39.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, when (1,244) certificates were issued with a value of JD160 million.