US embassy cable - 03AMMAN7805

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 AMMAN 007805 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ECON, EAID, KPAL, IS, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: KING ABDULLAH TALKS WITH NEA A/S BURNS ON IRAQ, 
ROADMAP, U.S. BILATERAL ASSISTANCE, FROZEN IRAQI ASSETS, 
AND ARTICLE 98 
 
Classified By: CDA David M. Hale for reasons 1.5 (b) (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (S)  NEA A/S Burns briefed King Abdullah and other senior 
GOJ officials on his discussion with Abu Alaa, noting that 
the Palestinians have an opportunity to move the roadmap 
forward, but must take concrete security steps.  The King 
agreed and said Jordan would deliver the same message to Abu 
Alaa.  The King and FonMin Muasher differed somewhat on plans 
to return an ambassador to Tel Aviv.  The King expressed 
pride in Jordan's assistance in rebuilding Iraq, especially 
on the security side.  The King reiterated his commitment to 
reaching an Article 98 agreement with the U.S., and hoped 
mutually acceptable language could be negotiated soon.  He 
also expressed concerns about Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, 
and Iran. 
 
2.  (S)  The King thanked the U.S. for the FY04 supplemental 
appropriation and hoped it could go toward the GOJ's Social 
and Economic Transformation Program (SETP).  The King and PM 
Fayez agreed to accelerate transfer of USD 150 million in 
frozen Iraqi assets, with the balance to come after 
settlement of Jordanian claims.  The King asked for 
"consideration" of Jordan's USD 1.33 billion trade claims on 
Iraq, and Burns hoped the USG could send a team soon to help 
address this issue.  PM Fayez said his extensive contacts 
with the opposition and civil society would lead to a 
concrete political and social reform program, including new 
political party and elections laws before the next 
parliamentary elections.  He said he would also use this 
dialogue to explain difficult but necessary economic steps 
like price increases and privatization.  END SUMMARY 
 
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JORDAN'S ASSISTANCE IN IRAQ 
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3.  (S)  NEA A/S Burns met separately November 30 with King 
Abdullah and Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez, and November 29 
with Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher.  Muasher and Planning 
Minister Bassam Awadallah attended the meeting with Prime 
Minister Fayez; Charge and PolCouns joined throughout.  Burns 
thanked the King for Jordan's continuing assistance in 
rebuilding Iraq, noting that a large group of Iraqi police 
trainees had arrived in Jordan the previous night.  The King 
noted that Jordanian special forces would train an Iraqi 
counterterrorism unit that he hoped would be operational in 
Iraq by April 2004.  The King characterized 2004 as "the year 
of training and handing back" authority in Iraq, and pledged 
Jordan's continued support in that effort. 
 
4.  (C)  PM Fayez complained that the media -- especially 
Arabic satellite channels -- are distorting the situation in 
Iraq by reporting only the negative and ignoring the many 
positive aspects.  Even in the Sunni Triangle, he said, 
institutions are being strengthened and police and military 
are starting to come back onto the streets. 
 
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MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ABU ALAA 
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5.  (S)  Burns briefed the King, PM, and FonMin on his 
November 29 meeting in Amman with Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei 
(Abu Alaa).  Burns said that the installation of the 
government of Abu Alaa provides an opportunity to move 
forward on the roadmap, but only if the Palestinians take 
concrete steps on security.  He noted that we had provided 
Abu Alaa with a list of possible concrete security steps the 
PNA could take immediately.  The King agreed that the 
Palestinians needed to seize the opportunity and act quickly, 
saying that he would tell Abu Alaa later in the day that the 
PNA needed to take real steps on security.  The King praised 
the Geneva Accord, saying that it could energize the peace 
movement and restore hope in an eventual settlement.  The 
King and PM expressed grave concern about Israel's security 
wall, arguing that it makes a two-state solution more 
difficult to achieve.  Muasher stressed that the two-state 
solution has particular importance for Jordan. 
 
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GOOD COP, BAD COP ON RETURN OF AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
6.  (C)  The King said he hoped to return a Jordanian 
Ambassador to Tel Aviv soon, noting that he would not wait 
for Egypt to do the same.  The pre-Eid release of 10 
Jordanians imprisoned in Israel provided Jordan enough cover 
with its domestic opposition, the King said, and he wanted to 
send back an Ambassador in the context of the return of the 
remaining 71 prisoners.  FonMin Muasher said he would now be 
willing to receive Israeli FonMin Silvan Shalom in Amman, and 
would see him later in the week at a Euro-Med conference in 
Naples.  However, he said, it remains necessary to 
demonstrate to Jordanians, especially foes of the peace 
process, that there are concrete rewards -- such as prisoner 
releases -- that come out of the relationship with Israel. 
Muasher was critical of Israeli handling of the prisoner 
issue, saying that Israel needed to find a way to release the 
four Jordanians convicted of killing an Israeli soldier.  He 
described Israel's release of ten Jordanians last week as 
"not serious or credible" given Israel's willingness to 
compromise with Hizballah on the release prisoners with 
"blood on their hands."  He complained that Israel was taking 
Jordan "for granted." 
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SYRIA AND LEBANON MOVING HIGHER ON THE AGENDA 
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7.  (S)  The King said that he plans to raise soon with 
Syrian president Bashar al-Asad Jordan's border complaints 
against Syria.  The King said that Syrian forces had occupied 
Jordanian territory after Jordanian forces repositioned 
themselves to "clean up the line and gain better visibility" 
along the border in order to deal better with infiltrations. 
He said that he or PM Fayez would go to Damascus in the near 
future to address this issue.  Burns described for the King 
the Syrian Accountability Act and its likely impact. 
 
8.  (C)  The King also mentioned that he would tell President 
Bush of his growing concern over Syrian maneuvering in 
Lebanon, noting that he may ask the President to consider 
increasing international pressure on Syria to withdraw its 
forces from Lebanon.  (Note:  Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri 
recently visited Jordan and met King Abdullah.  End note.) 
 
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SAUDI SECURITY SERVICES INEPT 
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9.  (S)  The King said that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah has 
been shocked by the recent bombings in Riyadh.  The GID had 
sent a team to spend six weeks in Saudi Arabia to strengthen 
ties with and help rebuild Saudi intelligence services, but 
the team found the Saudi services inept and fraught with 
internal divisions and infighting.  He said he had sent "a 
watered-down report" on the GID's findings to CP Abdullah and 
briefed him orally on the gravity of their findings, but 
doubted that the necessary steps to fix the problems could be 
taken quickly. 
 
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THE SETP, TRANSPARENCY, AND CONDITIONALITY 
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10.  (C)  The King and PM thanked the U.S. for the USD 100 
million supplemental ESF appropriation (and the PM mentioned 
that the same would be appreciated for FY05 as well).  The 
King hoped that all of this money could go into the Social 
and Economic Transformation Plan (SETP), saying the SETP had 
greater transparency than the regular budget and was focused 
on the sort of socio-economic projects that we both valued. 
"In the SETP, I know exactly where the money goes," the King 
declared.  Burns encouraged the King, PM, and Planning 
Minister to support the World Bank's request for an 
independent audit of the SETP as a step in Jordan's 
self-interest. 
 
11.  (C)  Planning Minister Awadallah asked that the U.S. be 
"a little bit lenient" in imposing conditions on the 
supplemental appropriation, arguing that "we already have 
enough conditionalities on the USD 700 million" FY03 
supplemental.  Burns countered that the conditionality is 
meant to reinforce decisions the GOJ has already decided to 
make. 
 
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REFORM AGENDA:  "A MODEL FOR THE REGION" 
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12.  (C)  Fayez said he wants Jordan's planned political, 
economic, and social liberalization to be "a model for the 
region."  He said that the government does not yet have a 
concrete program for political and social reform, but that he 
would develop one in consultation with Parliament, political 
parties, Islamists, NGOs and other elements of civil society. 
 He noted that he had already begun the process of 
consultation, and had already warned the opposition of the 
necessity of price hikes on petroleum and other products and 
provided them with justification for the moves -- through 
this process he hoped to quiet somewhat the reaction of the 
opposition.  "In the past we always denied there would be 
price hikes, then made them anyway." 
 
13.  (C)  Other difficult issues he would raise in these 
conversations would be privatization and political 
liberalization.  He said he hoped to reach a consensus on 
revisions to the political party and elections laws and have 
new laws in place for the 2007 parliamentary elections (or, 
at least, for 2011 elections). 
 
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FASTER ASSETS TRANSFER, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE 1.3 BILLION? 
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14.  (C)  Burns thanked the King and PM for Jordan's 
agreement to transfer USD 150 million in frozen Iraqi assets 
to the Development Fund for Iraq, and asked that the 
remainder of the frozen funds be transferred as soon as 
possible.  The King and Fayez agreed to accelerate the 
payment of the pledged USD 150 million to the DFI.  PM Fayez 
said that, as soon as all the claims of Jordanian businessmen 
had been settled, he would be ready to transfer the remainder 
of the money "the next day." 
 
15.  (C)  PM Fayez said the GOJ would come under pressure in 
Parliament in December regarding the status of the Jordanian 
Central Bank's USD 1.33 billion trade ledger claims against 
Iraq.  Even Kuwait -- a country much wealthier than Jordan -- 
is insisting on payment of its claims against Iraq.  Burns 
said that the U.S. does not underestimate the importance of 
the USD 1.3 billion trade ledger to Jordan, but wants to look 
at technical options to address it.  He hoped  that 
Washington would be able to put together a team to address 
the issue in the near future.  Fayez said Jordan would 
welcome a team, but it would have to be empowered to speak on 
the status of the trade ledger, not just make technical 
fixes.  In a later meeting, the King acknowledged that Jordan 
may have sent conflicting signals to the U.S. on this issue 
because of the variety  of channels involved.  He said he had 
never intended to link the release of frozen Iraqi assets to 
the issue of the trade claims; he had merely sought U.S. 
"consideration" of the latter issue. 
 
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IRAN ASKS FOR CONTACTS WITH THE U.S. 
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16.  (S)  While giving few details, the King and Muasher both 
noted that the Iranians had expressed to Muasher on his 
recent visit that they are serious about wanting a dialogue 
with the U.S. on Iraq and counterterrorism. 
 
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ARTICLE 98 AGREEMENT 
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17.  (C)  The King said that he remains committed to 
negotiating an Article 98 agreement with the U.S., and said 
he had instructed the Jordanian UN PermRep, Prince Zaid bin 
Raad, to be flexible in discussions with the U.S.  He said he 
hoped that the U.S. and Jordan could find mutually acceptable 
language in its next negotiating session in January 2004. 
FonMin Muasher separately made two points on Article 98:  a) 
the US formula would exclude the possibility of Jordan taking 
to the International Criminal Court an Israeli-American dual 
citizen who ordered a transfer of Palestinians from the West 
Bank to Jordan.  Jordan wanted to have that possibility as a 
deterrent.  b) 72 countries have signed Article 98 agreements 
with the US, but he asserted that only one -- Romania -- is a 
signatory of the ICC.  Not only is Jordan a signatory, but 
Jordan is president of the ICC member states group, and 
therefore must proceed cautiously.  The language of an 
Article 98 agreement with the U.S. needs to take these issues 
into account or "Jordan will look like a banana republic." 
 
18.  (U)  CPA Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ 
 
or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET 
home page. 
HALE