US embassy cable - 04AMMAN5784

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 005784 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, JO 
SUBJECT: TALES OF CORRUPTION CIRCULATE AROUND AMMAN 
 
REF: AMMAN 5131 
 
Classified By: DCM David M. Hale for reasons 1.5 (b) (d) 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  Amman is rife with rumors of high-level 
manipulation and alleged official corruption, with stories of 
a multi-million dollar theft of royal jewelry in shipment 
from Europe and a multi-layered Kuwait oil deal that gives 
Palace and GID slush funds -- not just the Treasury -- part 
of the proceeds.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C)  The mingling of private ventures with public 
business -- a Jordanian field sport -- has become a major 
topic of conversation in Amman.  The leaking and sale of 
parts of the high school Tawjihi exam by officials in the 
Ministry of Education (ref) demonstrated that even small fry 
can get in on the act.  More potently, the King (and Queen) 
are under increased scrutiny, with private charges of 
corruption -- or, at least, lavish spending and less than 
proper accounting.  Danish news organizations recently 
reported the theft in transit of USD 2 million worth of 
jewelry and silver that Queen Rania allegedly purchased in 
Sweden.  The local press has not yet picked up the story (and 
probably never will), but the story fuels private commentary 
on the Queen's out of control lifestyle. 
 
3.  (C)  The most frequent gossip, however, has centered on 
Jordan's recently leaked "secret" oil deal with Kuwait 
(septel).  Businessmen, academics, former ministers, and even 
prominent MPs privately accuse the GOJ of structuring the 
deal with Kuwait to provide a portion of the sale of Kuwaiti 
oil directly into the Palace (and, in some versions, GID) 
coffers, with only part going to the Treasury.  One prominent 
businessman (indirectly) blamed the King for this alleged 
corruption, saying "King Hussein would never have done this." 
 The businessman continued by lamenting the existence of 
several off-budget -- and therefore unaccountable -- pots of 
money in the GOJ, including the Palace, GID, and Planning 
Ministry.  "The King and Queen do wonderful things for Jordan 
abroad," he argued, "but need to be more careful of what they 
do for us here at home." 
 
4.  (C)  These are only the most credible of the recent 
stories of perceived misdeeds making the rounds in Amman.  It 
may be that, following the transfer of authority in Iraq and 
general acceptance of the state of the peace process, 
Jordanians are having to look closer to home to find topics 
of interest.  Such grumbling here tends to be cyclical, and 
we do not believe that it will have any meaningful political 
impact.  However, these stories reinforce prevailing 
assumptions about corruption in high places and contribute to 
a perception of a disconnect between the King and people. 
 
5.  (U)  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. 
GNEHM