US embassy cable - 04AMMAN831

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000831 
 
SIPDIS 
 
IRAQ SUPPORT UNIT ROUND UP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC, AMGT, CVIS, EAID, MASS, JO, IZ 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON IRAQ-RELATED EVENTS IN JORDAN 
 
 
Iraqi Military Training Update 
------------------------------ 
1. Over 500 Iraqi officer candidates continue to train under 
Jordanian instruction. Additionally several senior officers and 
pilots are being trained by the Jordanians. This training is 
being conducted at several Jordanian bases in Zarqa, Madaba, and 
Mafraq. The candidates at Zarqa have moved into their recently 
constructed quarters. The Jordanian military has been most 
cooperative. CMATT (Coalition Military Assistance Training Team) 
liaison team co-located with the Embassy's Iraq Support Unit 
(ISU) is working with Jordanian military and Iraqi recruits, and 
responsible for overall program oversight and execution, to 
include contract compliance, performance of Iraqi recruits, and 
interaction with Jordanian Armed Forces. 
 
Iraqi Interim Travel Documents 
------------------------------ 
2. Iraqi Consul in Amman told PolOff on January 14 that his 
consular staff had received authority to start extending Iraqi 
passports, issuing Interim Travel Documents (ITDs) and performing 
notary services.  He said that at present, only the U.S., U.K., 
India, Egypt and Jordan, are accepting the ITD as an official 
travel document.  He urged the U.S. government to assist in 
convincing more countries to accept the ITD as a substitute for 
an Iraqi passport.   The Consul added that Iraqis in Jordan 
continually ask his staff when the Embassy will be authorized to 
issue new Iraqi passports. 
 
 
Humanitarian Assistance 
----------------------- 
3.  The Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center (HACC), 
Jordan, is coordinating several HA projects.  They include 
soliciting donations for sports equipment for the establishment 
of a sports program for Iraqi youths in the Ar Ramadi area of 
western Iraq; coordinating with local business groups and the 
82nd Airborne Division for the delivery of medical supplies to 
western Iraq; and coordinating security for a Jordanian convoy 
providing food and medical supplies to their field hospital in 
Fallujah, Iraq. 
 
Outreach 2004 
------------- 
4. The Outreach 2004 trade exhibition and workshop took place in 
Amman Jan 10 - 13 and was attended by several high ranking U.S., 
CPA and Jordanian officials. More than 300 companies from 21 
nations participated or sent representatives, including companies 
from Iraq, the U.S., Europe, southeast Asia, the Middle East and 
elsewhere; companies from Syria and Iran also participated. There 
were national pavilions from the Netherlands, Italy, Saudi 
Arabia, Poland, Switzerland, Egypt, Turkey and Australia. Other 
exhibiters came from South Africa, Kuwait, the United Arab 
Emirates, France, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Romania, Hungary, 
Spain, and India. The workshop portion drew an overflow audience 
of more than 1200 delegates among whom more than 300 Iraqi 
entrepreneurs were registered to participate. The Keynote speaker 
was (RAdm, ret.) David Nash, director of the Project Management 
Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Other speakers 
included U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce, William Lash, III, 
Ms. April Foley, vice president of the Export-Import Bank, 
Washington, D.C. Ross Connelly, Executive Vice President of the 
Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and Col. Tony Bell, 
Contracting Officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority. 
Leading experts from the PMO, government agencies, and the 
private sector joined in the program. Acting Jordanian Prime 
Minister Mohammad Halaiqa, the Ambassador, and Assistant 
Secretary Lash attended the opening ceremony. The U.S. Based 
 
SIPDIS 
Kallman Group, LLC, organized the Department of Commerce 
Certified conference in association with JABA, the Jordan- 
American Business Association. 
 
World Bank to Set Up Iraq Office in Amman 
----------------------------------------- 
5. World Bank representatives conducted a workshop with 
representatives of the CPA Center for International Cooperation 
(CIC) and of Iraq's Planning, Finance, Electricity, Trade, and 
Transport Ministries on Jan. 19-20.  World Bank reps later met 
separately with CPA advisors to and Iraqi officials from the 
Ministry of Health.  The World Bank Board of Directors will 
review the World Bank team's strategic plan for Iraq 
reconstruction assistance by Feb. 1.  The World Bank has made 
arrangements to open an office in Amman to serve as an interim 
base for its operations in Iraq.  The office is planned to open 
Feb. 9 and to be staffed by four employees detailed from the 
Washington office and six Iraqis. 
 
Japanese Aid to Iraq--Using Jordan as a Base? 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
6. Japanese diplomats in Amman have been tasked to find worthy 
Iraqi projects, as the Japanese government prepares to spend $1.5 
billion on Iraq reconstruction.  Over the past two weeks, 
Japanese diplomats have approached the Jordanian Ministry of 
Planning, as well as representatives of the Iraqi Ministries of 
Trade and Health who were in Amman attending meetings with the 
World Bank. They are focused on funding Jordan-based capacity 
building and training programs for Iraqis, but groups of Iraqis 
expressed a preference for Iraq-based programming. 
 
Agriculture Events in Amman 
--------------------------- 
7. On Feb. 29, the U.S. Grain Council will host Iraqi and 
Jordanian businessmen and Ministry of Agriculture personnel in a 
Corn Co-Products Seminar.  On March 5-7, the American Soybean 
Association will host Iraqi businessmen and Ministry of 
Agriculture personnel in a Feed Formulation Training Course. On 
March 27-28, the "League of Businessmen in Iraq" will sponsor a 
general Iraq reconstruction conference focused on the Arab 
private sector, which it is calling the "Arab Businessmen and 
International Private Sector Conference for Rebuilding Iraq." 
The Citizens' Network for Political Action is in the planning 
stages of organizing a conference focusing on Iraq's agribusiness 
sector, tentatively planned for late February-early March.