US embassy cable - 05AMMAN1199

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001199 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM, EUR AND NEA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KPAL, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN RED CRESCENT PROPOSES STRATEGY TO ADOPT 
ADDITIONAL THIRD PROTOCOL TO THE GENEVA CONVENTION 
 
REF: A. STATE 20826 (NOTAL) 
 
     B. STATE 15184 
     C. BERN 183 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires David Hale per 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
1. (C)  SUMMARY: The President of the Jordanian Red Crescent 
Society, currently Chair of the Standing Commission of the 
International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, Dr. Mohammed 
Al Hadid, remains committed to solving the issue of Israeli 
National Society membership during his current term of 
office.  He supports the proposal to reconvene the aborted 
diplomatic conference originally scheduled for October 2000 
that would have established a new "red crystal" protective 
emblem, but he cautioned that the Swiss would be unwilling to 
commit to a new date unless they are satisfied that strong 
support exists among stakeholders.  Dr. Al Hadid believes 
that Switzerland may be inadvertently downgrading the issue 
by failing to appoint a Commissioner to explore the 
diplomatic conference idea in capitals.  He also suggested a 
series of specific confidence-building measures that the 
Standing Commission and the American Red Cross could take, 
starting with his own effort at an upcoming March meeting of 
the Arab Assembly of National Red Cross and Red Crescent 
Societies.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C)  As instructed ref. A, A/DCM and Amman-based regional 
refcoord met Jordan Red Crescent Society President Dr. 
Mohammed Al Hadid February 9 to solicit his views on our 
renewed effort to persuade Switzerland to convene a 
diplomatic conference to conclude negotiations on the draft 
Third Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions.  Dr. Al 
Hadid stressed at the outset that he has remained committed 
to solving the long-standing issue of Israeli National 
Society membership, explaining that he took three steps after 
he was elected President of the Standing Commission in late 
2003 to send a strong signal that the issue "remained alive 
in spite of the fact the Commission was headed by a Muslim": 
 
-- In January 2004 Al Hadid created the ad hoc subsidiary 
Standing Commission "Emblem Working Group," ensuring that a 
range of National Societies from the region (i.e., Egypt, 
Syria and Iran) were members and that the working group 
itself was chaired by an individual with strong knowledge of 
the region (i.e., retired French Ambassador to Cairo Phillip 
Couvilier); 
 
-- Al Hadid also pushed the Commission to change its 
constitution to enable Israel's National Society, the Magen 
David Adom Movement (MDA), to immediately join its 
substantive subsidiary bodies (the Israeli National Society 
is now a member of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement's 
Health Commission); 
 
-- Finally Al Hadid has been meeting with MDA "four to five" 
times a year in Jerusalem and Amman to help ensure it is in 
full conformity with the international Red Cross/Red Crescent 
Movement's statutes so that there is no additional obstacle 
to its formal inclusion once the issue of the Additional 
Third Protocol is finally resolved. 
 
3. (C) Turning to the issue of the proposed diplomatic 
conference, Al Hadid predicted that the Swiss would not agree 
to convene it unless they were first convinced that "everyone 
is interested."  He stressed that the  Swiss "have a phobia 
about failure," and noted that they only agreed to the 
October 2000 conference because they had first held a 
pre-meeting in Geneva to discuss the draft third protocol in 
depth.  (NOTE: Al Hadid suggested adopting that same 
two-stage format because there are "many new players 
unfamiliar with the draft after four years" who could create 
"surprises" if a conference was held without preparatory 
work.  END NOTE.)   Al Hadid also thought that ground work 
would have to be done to build the level of support the Swiss 
are likely seeking. 
 
4. (C) Al Hadid suggested pursuing confidence-building 
measures simultaneously with States Parties and with National 
Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies.  For the former, Al Hadid 
urged the USG to press Switzerland to appoint a Commissioner 
to discuss the draft Additional Third Protocol in capitals, 
as it had done back in the run-up to the 2000 conference.  Al 
Hadid argued that Switzerland's decision to hand the emblem 
portfolio to a desk level official at its MFA was sending a 
negative signal to governments that need to be engaged 
directly given that the Additional Third Protocol is a 
"political" issue. 
 
5. (C)  For the latter, Al Hadid thought the Arab National 
Societies (but not Iran) might actively oppose the 
conference.  He suggested that the best means to secure their 
support would be to hold a joint meeting of the Arab Assembly 
of the Red Cross/Red Crescent and the Arab League in advance 
of any meeting in Geneva.  Al Hadid told us that he was 
already working to build consensus among regional National 
Societies ahead of the annual meeting of the Arab Assembly of 
the Red Cross/Red Crescent which will convene March 21-22 in 
Riyadh.  He explained that he had asked Phillip Couvilier and 
the Egyptian and Syrian Emblem Working Group representatives 
to meet in Amman at the end of the month to urge them to use 
the results of the Sharm el Sheik Conference to revive the 
third protocol issue.  Al Hadid thought that the current 
prospects for Arab support were positive; he promised to 
share the results of his small Emblem Group meeting with post 
at the end of the month. 
 
6. (SBU)  Al Hadid also argued that the American Red Cross 
(ARC) could build significant support for MDA membership by 
establishing direct contact between Arab National Socities 
and MDA representatives.  He explained that through his 
personal contact MDA had offered to conduct capacity building 
programs in Jordan, changing the attitude of some of his own 
Jordan Red Crescent doctors by equipping 40 Red Crescent 
hospitals in Jordan with new intensive care units in 2004. 
Given the current focus on building systems to address 
international disasters, Al Hadid suggested that ARC host a 
Red Cross/Red Crescent conference on earthquake relief in 
Turkey and invite Arab National Societies, as well as MDA, to 
participate. 
HALE