US embassy cable - 02AMMAN3617

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 003617 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2007 
TAGS: EFIN, PREL, US, JO 
SUBJECT: EUROPEANS ASK IF U.S. WILL BE MORE FORTHCOMING ON 
JORDAN DEBT RELIEF AT JULY 9 PARIS CLUB 
 
REF: A. PARIS 4438 
     B. AMMAN 3519 
 
Classified By: Amb. Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D) 
 
1.  (C)  During a regular monthly breakfast meeting July 2, 
new British Ambassador Christopher Prentice told the 
Ambassador that HMG had been surprised by the conservative 
stance of the USG on debt relief for Jordan at the June 20 
Paris Club meeting (ref a).  Prentice noted that PM Blair and 
FonSec Straw had committed the UK to support "as generous as 
possible" debt rescheduling for Jordan.  Straw's most recent 
letter had actually indicated a willingness to join consensus 
for "full stock rescheduling."  When the Ambassador said he 
was not aware that the British representative presented this 
position in Paris on June 20, Prentice confirmed that, 
although the UK representative had instructions to be more 
forthcoming, he remained silent in the face of the USG's 
opposition to anything greater than Houston terms for Jordan. 
 Prentice added that he believes the UK is, in fact, prepared 
to support "Houston plus" terms with a longer consolidation 
period (as FinMin Marto requested of the Ambassador, ref b) 
in the July 9 Paris Club meeting -- unless the U.S. again 
opposes such relief. 
 
2.  (C)  DCM spoke separately July 2 with Spanish DCM Jose 
Luis Cuerdo, who said that the general consensus among EU 
states is to support rescheduling "on generous terms" for 
Jordan.  Cuerdo concluded, based on discussions while Spain 
was EU President, that EU member support for Jordan did not 
go as far as it otherwise would have because the U.S. and 
Japan were not prepared to join a more forthcoming consensus 
at the June 20 meeting.  Cuerdo commented that Spain could 
not support the complete debt reprofiling for which Jordan 
had originally asked, but would support terms more generous 
than those discussed on June 20, absent opposition from the 
U.S. and Japan. 
 
Gnehm