US embassy cable - 03AMMAN7275

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007275 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/RA LAWSON, PM/RSAT, NP/RA CROUCH 
TEL AVIV FOR ECON GUMBINER 
DOE FOR NNSA/ONP SCOTT DAVIS AND SANDIA/CMC PREGENZER 
OSD FOR OSD/ISA/NESA 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: PARM, PBTS, PINR, PREL, PTER, JO, MEPN 
SUBJECT:  COOPERATIVE MONITORING CENTER LAUNCHED IN AMMAN 
 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The Ambassador and visiting officials 
from the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security 
Administration and Sandia National Laboratories recently 
inaugurated the Cooperative Monitoring Center (CMC) in 
Amman.  CMC/Amman is modeled after the CMC at Sandia, which 
has been a leading force in promoting cooperation through 
technology in myriad fields, such as disarmament, non- 
proliferation, border security, public health, as well as 
environmental and resource management.  The hope for 
CMC/Amman is for it to help regional security officials and 
scientific experts bridge the gap between technical and 
political issues.  Regional activities involving Israel, 
however, may not be soon in the offing because of a go-slow 
approach favored by the CMC/Amman director in the current 
political climate.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU) Under the patronage of Jordan's science and 
technology czar, Prince Hassan, who was represented at the 
October 16 ceremony by his son, Prince Rashid, the CMC/Amman 
officially opened its doors for business.  The Ambassador 
attended, as did the NEA Regional Environment Officer. 
Remarks, universally focusing on technology as a means to 
enhance regional security and prosperity, were made by Royal 
Scientific Society (RSS) President Saad Hijazi, U.S. 
Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security 
Administration Office of Nonproliferation Deputy Director 
Scott Davis, and CMC/Sandia Director Dr. Arian Pregenzer. 
 
3. (SBU) Housed on the RSS campus, the CMC/Amman will be 
able to draw on the technical expertise, and human and 
administrative resources of the RSS to further its agenda. 
Amman was chosen as the site for Sandia's "sister" CMC 
because of the excellent capacity at the RSS and for 
Jordan's strategic location in the region as well as its 
close working relationships with neighboring countries. 
 
4. (SBU) CMC/Amman's mission will be to promote science and 
technology to resolve nonproliferation, arms control, and 
other security issues; develop a culture of information 
sharing within the Middle East through education and 
training; deploy monitoring technology that will allow 
regional countries to experiment with the technology and 
share experiences; and help regional security officials 
bridge the gap between technical and political issues. 
CMC/Amman can assist Jordan and its neighbors to build the 
necessary technical capabilities to support international 
treaties. 
 
5. (SBU) To this end, CMC/Amman already hosted its first 
training workshop in July, when Sandia staff introduced 16 
Jordanian military, security, and intelligence officials to 
the concepts of cooperative monitoring.  Future workshops 
and regional symposia are being planned by the director of 
the CMC/Amman, General (Ret.) Mohammed Shiyyab.  Shiyyab has 
been a long-time player in regional security issues and 
initiatives, having participated in his country's 
negotiations with Israel in the lead-up to their peace 
treaty, as well as having participated in the multilateral 
ACRS (Arms Control and Regional Security) process. 
 
6. (SBU) While extremely enthusiastic about the project, 
Shiyyab has cautiously warned that, at the outset, because 
of domestic sensitivities, CMC/Amman should focus its scope 
of work on domestic or Arab-to-Arab issues that will obviate 
the need to involve Jordan's immediate neighbor to the west-- 
Israel.  Shiyyab, in his opening remarks, hinted that the 
current political climate was not conducive to jumping in 
full-force on regional security cooperation.  It is 
necessary to proceed deliberately to ensure that the 
CMC/Amman could claim success stories that would help 
establish its reputation, he recommended. 
 
7. (SBU) COMMENT:  We look favorably on the CMC/Amman as a 
mechanism to help promote several key elements of regional 
security in the Middle East.  By focusing on monitoring 
technologies to support major arms control treaties, border 
management, and natural resource management, and fostering 
dialog and data sharing among regional partners, as well as 
institutional capacity building, the CMC/Amman could 
contribute to a more stable and prosperous Middle East.  The 
key will be to get CMC/Amman's leadership and patrons to 
reach out to Israel and other neighbors to make their work 
significant. 
 
GNEHM