Jordanian FM: We have defeated Daesh but we haven’t destroyed Daesh

DUBAI: Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Saturday that the world has defeated Daesh, but it hasn’t destroyed the extremist group yet.

“Stabilization in Syria is key, otherwise we will encounter something worse than Daesh in the future,” Safadi said.

The Jordanian foreign minister was speaking at the 14th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue during the fourth plenary session among his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono and US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Brett McGurk.

Safadi also spoke of the Geneva peace negotiations as being the only way to reach peace, while adding that there’s a need to realistically identify the true sources of threat.

“We must have a holistic approach or we won’t be able to build a future we all deserve and solve all the conflicts we witness,” Safadi said, adding that “We need to differentiate between reconstruction and destabilization.”

Safadi also spoke about how, for Jordan, the key conflict is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and how the it has and continues to support and try and meet the needs of the refugees.