By:Zawya

BEIRUT: Qatar is set to provide Syria with gas via Jordan to improve the nation's meagre electricity supply and boost Syria's new rulers, according to three people familiar with the matter, in a move that a U.S. official said had Washington's approval.

It would be the most significant tangible support for the new administration in Damascus by Qatar, one of the region's sternest opponents of the now-deposed Bashar al-Assad and strongest backers of the rebels-turned rulers who replaced him.

A U.S. official said the gas deal had a nod of approval from President Donald Trump's administration without saying how this was communicated.

Qatar's state news agency later said an agreement had been signed between Qatar's development fund and Jordan's energy ministry to provide Damascus with "an approved supply of natural gas" via Jordan to help address Syria's electricity shortage, without mentioning Syria's new rulers or Washington.

Qatar's fund will provide Jordan's energy ministry with a grant to supply Syria with the gas, the fund told Reuters in an email.

Jordanian energy minister Saleh al-Kharabsheh told Jordan's state news agency the initiative would be fully funded by Qatar's fund.

The gas will be received at Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba and pumped to Syria via the Arab Gas Pipeline, Jordanian energy minister al-Kharabsheh said.