US embassy cable - 04AMMAN7529

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007529 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/09/2014 
TAGS: PREL, CVIS, CPAS, PTER, MOPS, IZ, JO, KINR 
SUBJECT: IRAQ BORDER UPDATE 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 5399 
     B. AMMAN 6968 
     C. AMMAN 3677 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.5 (b), (d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  Jordanian security officials at the Karameh 
border crossing have eased restrictions on the entry of 
Iraqis.  Communications between Jordanian and Iraqi border 
officials remain poor, and Iraqi border officials are, 
reportedly, demanding bribes at numerous "check points" prior 
to final clearance into Iraq.  A Jordanian border official 
also alleged that Iraqi border officials are passing vehicle 
information to Iraqi racketeers and/or insurgents. End 
Summary. 
 
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JORDAN NOT RESTRICTING IRAQIS 
----------------------------- 
 
2. (C) The Jordanian border liaison chief at the Karameh 
border crossing, Ashraf Taha Aldmour, told PolOff during a 
visit to Karameh August 23 that Jordanian border officials 
had loosened restrictions on the entry of Iraqis, including 
the passage of entire families.  This was a response to King 
Abdullah's June 28 directive to address long delays of 
vehicles and people at the border (ref A).  He believed that 
most of the Iraqis now being allowed through, particularly 
those traveling as families, intended to stay in Jordan.  He 
said most of the Iraqis still denied entry were those 
presenting altered passports, mainly of the new Iraqi 
S-series passport (ref B).  The most common tactic used was 
to pass back "authentic" S-series passports for photo and/or 
name substitution.  Aldmour also said that most of the Iraqis 
presenting these altered passports had previously stayed 
illegally in Jordan and were trying to avoid re-entry fines 
of 1.5 Jordan Dinar (JD) (approximately 2 USD) for each day 
stayed beyond period of legal admission.  He disputed recent 
local media reports, saying there was no noticeable increase 
in the number of Iraqi Christians trying to enter Jordan at 
the Karameh border. 
 
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POOR COMMUNICATION; MORE BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
3. (C) Aldmour said that communications between the Iraqi and 
Jordanian border officials remained poor (ref A), stemming, 
he said, from a constant change in Iraqi border official 
personnel and leadership.  He never knew who was in charge 
from day to day on the Iraqi side of the frontier; it 
depended on "who answered the telephone."  Nearly all of the 
Iraqi border officials, he said, came from the Aldlaimeh 
tribe (one of the largest Sunni tribes in the Al Anbar 
province).  He also said that information-sharing was 
difficult.  He cited several instances where Iraqi border 
officials "took it personally", threatening to restrict the 
entry of Jordanians into Iraq, when the Jordanians denied 
entrance to Iraqis. 
 
4. (C) According to Aldmour, Iraqi border officials demanded 
bribes regularly from travelers going into and out of Iraq 
(ref C).  Aldmour said that although the Iraqi border 
officials had yet to deny entry to any Jordanians, they made 
life difficult, as travelers were required to stop at several 
"check points".  Observing from the Jordanian side, PolOff 
could see all six "check points", clusters of un-uniformed 
Iraqi men on the road every 25 yards or so, with no signs 
identifiying their function, stopping each car, talking to 
the drivers, and then waving them on. (Separately, 
multi-national forces (MNF) border personnel also told PolOff 
that most of the Iraqi border officials were from the same 
tribe and alleged that bribe demands occurred whenever MNF 
were not present.) 
 
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IRAQI GUARDS SAID PASSING VEHICLE INFORMATION 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Aldmour alleged Iraqi border officials are passing 
commercial vehicle information--license plate numbers, 
vehicle and driver nationality, cargo, and border departure 
time--to, he speculated, racketeers and/or insurgents in 
Iraq.  He claimed to have regularly observed these Iraqi 
officials speaking into their cell phones as vehicles cleared 
the border crossing and headed into Iraq. 
 
6. (U) 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