US embassy cable - 03AMMAN6917

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 006917 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2013 
TAGS: PREL, JO, OSCE 
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN VIEWS ON THE OSCE AND ITS MEDITERRANEAN 
PARTNERS 
 
Classified By: DCM David Hale for reason 1.5 (d) 
 
1. SUMMARY: In a bilateral meeting at the October 20-21 Aqaba 
OSCE seminar, U.S. and Jordanian officials discussed the 
Jordanian vision for the OSCE,s six Mediterranean Partners 
for Cooperation. While upbeat on OSCE principles and the 
partners, continued participation with the OSCE, the 
Jordanians were quick to point out the need for progress on 
the Middle East peace process first. END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) Then Jordanian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 
Shaher Bak, Jordanian Ambassador to Austria Muhyieddeen Touq, 
USOSCE Ambassador Stephan Minikes and USOSCE and Embassy 
Amman poloffs met October 20 on the margins of the Aqaba OSCE 
Mediterranean Seminar. Minister Bak, who (before the recent 
government change) handled foreign policy issues and projects 
as designated by FM Muasher, was the ranking Jordanian 
delegation member. Algeria, Israel, and Morocco were 
represented at the Seminar by their Vienna-resident 
ambassadors, and Egypt sent an MFA representative.  The 
substance of the seminar will be reported septel by USOSCE. 
 
3. (C) According to Bak, Jordan would "love to see a 
Helsinki-like process" for the region.  In order to be 
meaningful, a Helsinki Accord-type document for the Middle 
East would need to include all the countries of the region, 
including Turkey and Iran, and would require the U.S. and 
Western Europe to act as parties or partners to the 
agreement. Despite the low level of participation from 
Mediterranean partner states, he was pleased to have an Arab 
League observer in attendance. He stated that Jordan's 
decision to host the seminar was a gesture meant to maintain 
momentum in the OSCE-partner relationship and among the 
partners themselves, but Bak believed that it accomplished 
less than if the U.S. or the U.N. had called a similar 
meeting. 
 
3. (C) Amb. Touq assessed four of the five Mediterranean 
partners (not including Algeria, though he thought they could 
be easily convinced to do so) as willing to sign a Helsinki 
Accord-like document. He stated that the parallel idea of 
elevating the Mediterranean partners, status within the OSCE 
was gaining consensus. He mentioned that the partners were 
close to agreement on establishing a regional conflict 
prevention center, modeled on OSCE efforts, and that both the 
partners, and the OSCE's participation would be needed to do 
so. 
 
4. (C) Bak mentioned repeatedly that the current state of the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict precludes advancement of an 
OSCE-based agenda in the region. He expressed the view that 
the past possibility of seeing Middle Eastern states sign a 
Helsinki Accord-like document was now only a dream. 
Consequently, those states which do not have peace treaties 
with Israel cannot be expected to cooperate with Israel under 
present circumstances, he said, until there is political 
progress in ending the violence and resuming peace talks. 
 
5. (U) This message was coordinated with USOSCE. 
GNEHM