US embassy cable - 04AMMAN3486

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003486 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, US, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: MFA CLAIMS AS MANY AS 35 JORDANIANS IN CUSTODY IN 
IRAQ, SOME MIS-IDENTIFIED AS IRAQIS 
 
REF: BAGHDAD 398 (NO CPA MESSAGE NUMBER PROVIDED) 
 
Classified By: CDA David M. Hale for reasons 1.5 (b) (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C)  MFA officials told the Embassy this week that they 
believe there are as many as 35 Jordanians in Coalition 
custody in Iraq, and that the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad 
and CPA have identified 23 detainees in Coalition custody as 
Jordanian.  The MFA believes other Jordanians might be 
mis-identified as Iraqi nationals.  Given the local interplay 
of the Abu Ghreib abuse story with public claims that 1,000 
Jordanians remain in Coalition custody as well as reports of 
additional information provided by CPA to the Jordanian 
mission in Baghdad, we would appreciate any confirmation CPA 
can provide beyond reftel on Jordanian detainees.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
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MFA SAYS BETWEEN 25-35 JORDANIANS IN COALITION CUSTODY 
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2.  (C)  Charge on May 4 covered reftel information on 
Jordanian detainees in Coalition and Iraqi correctional 
custody with Omar Rifai, Secretary General of the MFA.  Rifai 
responded that the MFA appreciates Embassy, USG, and CPA 
efforts to identify Jordanians in custody in Iraq.  Based on 
information the MFA has collected, however, Rifai said the 
MFA believes that there are more Jordanians in Coalition 
custody than the ten mentioned in reftel, but that the 
numbers are far, far short of the 1,000 claimed by the 
Chairman of the parliamentary human rights committee. 
 
3.  (C)  Dimae Haddad, the Jordanian Charge in Baghdad and 
Basheer Zoubi, Deputy Director of FonMin Muasher's Private 
Office told PolCouns May 5 that the GOJ appreciates the 
cooperation of the USG and CPA in identifying Jordanians in 
custody.  Haddad said that he has held extensive discussions 
with CPA and Iraqi Interior Ministry officials, and that they 
have jointly identified 23 Jordanians in Coalition custody. 
He said that, based on information from the ICRC and 
Jordanian family members, the GOJ believes that there could 
be as many as 10-15 additional Jordanians in Coalition 
custody incorrectly identified as Iraqi nationals.  According 
to Zoubi, CPA officials have told Jordanian officials in 
Baghdad that Jordanians make up the second largest national 
group in Coalition custody, after Iranians.  Haddad and Zoubi 
promised to provide a list of names and prisoner numbers to 
the Embassy. 
 
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SORT OUT THE JORDANIANS BEFORE JUNE 30 
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4.  (C)  Haddad said he was worried about the status of 
Jordanian detainees -- particularly those incorrectly 
identified as Iraqi nationals -- after the June 30 transfer 
of sovereignty.  He said a senior CPA official told him that, 
as of June 30, all foreign detainees would be released, 
transferred to the custody of Iraqi authorities, or "taken to 
Guantanamo."  The GOJ does not want large numbers of 
Jordanians to be transferred to Iraqi custody, fearing that 
they could be lost in the system since the Iraqi security 
services "will have a thousand other things to do" besides 
track foreign prisoners.  He asked that the USG and CPA make 
a concerted effort between now and June 30 to identify, 
investigate, and free those Jordanians in Coalition or Iraqi 
custody who are not a threat and who have not committed a 
crime. 
 
5.  (C)  Haddad said that the Coalition's legal authority to 
arrest and detain suspects remains unclear to him, as do 
Coalition procedures to identify those held, decide which 
detainees are turned over to Iraqi police, and clear others 
of charges of wrongdoing.  The GOJ believes, for example, 
that Coalition forces hold three Jordanians who were detained 
while driving trucks carrying supplies for Coalition forces 
and had merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  In 
a separate conversation with PolOff, UN Assistance Mission to 
Iraq (UNAMI) PolOff Alan Fellows echoed this sentiment, 
saying that UNAMI has received "several" reports from 
contacts and released prisoners that Coalition forces have 
picked up bystanders for no apparent reason other than their 
proximity to clashes with Coalition forces. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6.  (C)  Unsubstantiated and undoubtedly exaggerated (but 
widely believed) parliamentary allegations that 1,000 
Jordanians remain in Coalition custody have given the Abu 
Ghreib abuse story additional resonance in Jordan.  In light 
of reported conversations between CPA and Jordanian 
diplomats, post would appreciate any additional details CPA 
can provide on Jordanians in custody in Iraq, particularly on 
the 23 detainees the Jordanian charge claims to have agreed 
on with CPA officials. 
 
7.  (U)  CPA Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ 
 
or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET 
home page. 
HALE