US embassy cable - 05AMMAN9514

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 009514 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, JO, KICC 
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT MOVES TOWARD RATIFICATION OF ARTICLE 98 
AGREEMENT 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 6148 
 
     B. AMMAN 5994 
     C. AMMAN 5624 
 
Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 1.  (U) Jordan's Chamber of Deputies referred the 
U.S.-Jordan Article 98 agreement to its legal committee on 
December 7 for a formal recommendation.  The lower house of 
parliament had earlier rejected the agreement during its 
summer extraordinary session (Ref C), although the Jordanian 
Senate endorsed the agreement by a unanimous vote (Ref A) on 
July 31.  Press reports state that the agreement is one of 17 
items placed for priority consideration on parliament's 
agenda.  Also on December 7, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty 
International issued a joint public statement calling on MPs 
to reject the agreement, stating that, "Jordan's parliament 
should firmly reject this strong-arm attempt by the United 
States to exempt its own citizens from international law." 
 
2.  (C) Newly appointed Prime Minister Bakhit has assured 
Ambassador that his government will strongly back the Article 
98 agreement in parliament, and that he expects ratification 
by the Chamber of Deputies in mid-January.  Sources in 
parliament report that the legal committee will almost 
certainly issue a positive recommendation.  Several MPs who 
previously voted against the agreement have told poloff they 
now plan to cast an affirmative vote.  Some vocal opposition 
remains, however.  Influential MP Abdul Karim Dughmi (East 
Banker, Mafraq) has called on his colleagues to reject the 
agreement, stating (erroneously) that "it contradicts 
Jordan's membership in the United Nations and its membership 
in the ICC." 
 
3.  (C) COMMENT:  Post is optimistic that parliament will 
ratify the Article 98 agreement when it reaches a vote in the 
Chamber of Deputies.  The poor planning and lack of 
information on the part of the GOJ that contributed to its 
defeat in the summer (Ref B) will not be repeated this time 
around.  While we hope a vote on the agreement is taken in 
January 2006, other parliamentary priorities - such as a vote 
of confidence in the new government and review of the 
government's budget - combined with the Eid holiday in 
January, could push the issue into February.  END COMMENT. 
HALE