US embassy cable - 05AMMAN3000

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Identifier:	05AMMAN3000
Wikileaks:	View 05AMMAN3000 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Amman
Created:	2005-04-13 13:12:00
Classification:	UNCLASSIFIED
Tags:	EAIR PTER JO EURN
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

UNCLAS AMMAN 003000 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/TRA/OTP, NEA/ELA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR, PTER, JO, EURN 
SUBJECT: JCAA RESPONSE TO DHS LIGHTER BAN 
 
REF: STATE 66181 
 
On March 20, ECON/C and econoff delivered reftel demarche to 
Captain Suleiman Obeidat, Director General of the Jordan 
Civil Aviation Authority, on the DHS decision to ban butane 
lighters from all commercial flights to, from, and within the 
United States.  (The Civil Aviation Authority had already 
been informally alerted to the new DHS policy by the TSA 
representative in Athens.)  Obeidat made no substantive 
comment at that time, but requested a formal letter from the 
Embassy announcing this policy, which the Embassy provided 
for him.  When econoff followed up on April 13, Obeidat 
stated that Jordan's Civil Aviation Authority had implemented 
the ban on outgoing flights to the United States.  He added 
that given the fact that no other country had banned butane 
lighters and that a ban on lighters was not an International 
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) decision, Jordan continued 
to allow them on all flights not bound for the United States. 
 He also stated that he had passed information on the ban to 
Royal Jordanian Airlines, the only carrier with direct 
flights between Jordan and the United States. 
HALE