US embassy cable - 05AMMAN6270

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 006270 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREF, PREL, PTER, MOPS, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: SECURITY AT THE JORDAN-IRAQ BORDER 
 
REF: AMMAN 297 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: Attacks inside Iraq near the Iraqi/Jordanian 
border crossing in recent months have focused GOJ attention 
on security on the Jordanian side of the border.  Some 
security measures have contributed to delays for commercial 
and humanitarian traffic headed into Iraq.  NGO officials 
have also expressed concern for refugees camped at the 
crossing.END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C) According to border liaison personnel of the U.S. 
Army,s Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center (HACC) 
attached to Embassy Amman, insurgents have set off small 
explosive devices and fired on U.S. forces near Checkpoint 
129, approximately 20 kilometers inside of Iraq, each month 
since April around the monthly rotations of Iraqi border 
staff at the Karamah/Trebil crossing on the Jordanian/Iraqi 
frontier.  A July 24 attack took place unusually close to the 
Jordanian border facilities, which were last targeted by a 
suicide bomber in December (reftel).  U.S. military contacts 
tell us the Iraqi border authorities, compound (housed in 
former hotels) was attacked July 24 by a single vehicle.  As 
the car approached the entrance of the compound from the 
east, the attacker set off his suicide bomb, injuring three 
Iraqi border officers (one seriously) and causing minor 
structural damage.  Subsequent delays and closures slowed 
border operations on both sides.  Since then Jordanians have 
been enforcing stricter security measures including thorough 
searches of all vehicles, trucks, and persons attempting to 
enter Jordan. 
 
3. (C) The bombing also affected Iranian Kurdish refugees who 
have been seeking entry into Jordan at this crossing since 
January (reftel).  On July 25, Jordanian Arabic daily Al-Arab 
Al-Yawm reported "approximately 200 Kurdish refugees living 
in the buffer zone on the Jordanian-Iraqi border rushed to 
the Jordanian gate upon hearing the sound of the explosion 
asking for security protection."  While UNHCR's Ruyashid 
Field Office confirmed that there were no casualties among 
the refugees, this attack could compound the movement 
restrictions that Jordan,s Ministry of Interior has started 
to impose on the Jordanian Hashemite Charitable Organizations 
(JHCO), which recently signed a two-month service agreement 
to supply limited aid to these refugees pending the 
relocation to northern Iraq of the Al Tash camp near Ramadi. 
(NOTE: Jordan,s Interior Ministry hopes to avoid 
re-establishing refugee camps at the border since the GOJ 
agreed this spring to transfer the population of the UNHCR 
"No Man,s Land" Camp at the Karama/Trebil crossing to 
another UNHCR camp in Ruyashid, 70 kilometers inside the 
border.  The GOJ continues to deny entry to new asylum 
seekers from Iraq.  END NOTE.) 
 
4. (C) To further bolster border security, Jordan began 
implementing a zero tolerance policy on July 26 toward 
vehicles suspected of fuel smuggling. The GOJ,s intent is to 
turn back smuggling vehicles that make it through the Iraqi 
side of the border crossing so as to prevent their entry into 
Jordan. 
HALE