Jordan rejects Assad claim it plans to send troops to Syria

AMMAN, Jordan – Jordan has rejected as “baseless” claims that it plans to deploy troops in neighbouring Syria in co-ordination with the United States.

Syrian President Bashar Assad made the allegation in an interview Friday with the Russian news website Sputnik. Russia is an Assad ally in Syria’s six-year-old civil war.

Assad told Sputnik that “Jordan was part of the American plan since the beginning of the war in Syria.”

Jordan is part of the region’s Sunni Muslim camp, while Assad is backed by Shiite Muslim Iran and the Shiite militia Hezbollah. Jordan is also part of a U.S.-led military coalition against Islamic State extremists and has carried out airstrikes on IS targets in Syria and Iraq.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani says Jordan continues to push for a political solution in Syria.