US embassy cable - 05AMMAN7071

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 007071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, IZ, JO, PBIO 
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON IRAQ DRAFT CONSTITUTION 
 
REF: A. STATE 160094 
 
     B. AMMAN 6944 
 
Classified By: CDA DANIEL RUBINSTEIN FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D 
 
1.  ( C ) On August 31 A/DCM and British Charge Patricia 
Phillips jointly made ref A demarche to Ambassador Muhammad 
al-Qaraan, director of the Foreign Ministry,s Arab and 
Middle Eastern Affairs Department.  Al-Qaraan started out by 
calling the constitution an internal Iraqi affair.  When 
reminded of Deputy PM Muasher,s public statement August 30 
that &Jordan wants the maximum concord (among Iraqis) over 
the constitution,8 and of the fact that the constitution is 
part of an UNSCR-mandated process, Al-Qaraan agreed that 
Jordan shares an interest in the success of the current 
process.  He said he expected Jordan would continue to call 
for all communities in Iraq to participate in the upcoming 
referendum and elections, and that he would convey our points 
to FM Kasrawi. 
 
2.  ( C ) Comment:  Post will continue to seek further 
opportunities to remind more senior GOJ officials of our 
common interest in public statements and private contacts 
that support maximum participation.  Judging from King 
Abdullah,s telephone conversations August 27 with the 
Secretary, and Muasher,s statements August 30, we believe 
 
SIPDIS 
Jordan is on board and will continue to support Sunni Arab 
participation in the Iraqi political process.  End Comment. 
 
3.  ( C ) Bio note:  Al-Qaraan was Jordan,s Ambassador in 
Kuwait from 1999 until this summer.  He said he will take up 
his new post in about a month as Jordanian Ambassador in 
Tripoli.  He said he expected it would be difficult to do 
business &with such a weird regime.8 Al-Qaraan is in his 
late fifties and speaks English at about the &two8 level. 
 
RUBINSTEIN