REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, AMMAN -- Jordan on Monday expelled Syria's ambassador over his "repeated insults" to the kingdom, drawing a swift tit-for-tat response from Damascus, which ordered Amman's top diplomat to leave.
On the battlefield, Syrian rebels made advances in the war-torn country's northwest, seizing several army checkpoints and inching closer towards taking over two major bases, a monitor and activists said.
Jordanian foreign ministry spokeswoman Sabah Rafi said the government considers Syrian ambassador Bahjat Suleiman "persona non grata and has demanded he leave the country within 24 hours."
"The decision comes after Suleiman's repeated insults to Jordan and its leadership, institutions and citizens, through his meetings, writings and social media websites," she said, cited by state-run news agency Petra.
Rafi said the government in Jordan, which is hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees from the conflict across its borders, had "repeatedly warned Suleiman not to exploit Jordanian hospitality."
"Suleiman used Jordan as a platform to question its positions and make false accusations and allegations against the kingdom," she said.
"He also used Jordan to directly insult brotherly and neighbouring Arab countries and insult their leaderships."
Around 100 Syrians held a sit-in outside Syria's embassy in Amman to express support for Jordan's decision.
"Jordan has always been a refuge for the free of the Arab world. Thank you Jordan," read a banner carried by demonstrators who chanted pro-King Abdullah II slogans.
Syria quickly reacted to Jordan's move and announced it was kicking out of Damascus the Jordanian charge d'affaires.
"The Syrian foreign ministry will order the expulsion of the Jordanian charge d'affaires to Damascus," said state TV channel Al-Ikhbariya.
It quoted the foreign ministry saying the decision came "in response to the Jordanian government's baseless decision to declare the Syrian ambassador to Amman persona non grata."
Jordan recalled its ambassador to Syria, Omar al-Amad, in 2011 after pro-Syrian regime protesters attacked the Damascus embassy.
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