US embassy cable - 03AMMAN1049

UNCLAS AMMAN 001049 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
THE HAGUE FOR CWC DEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM, PREL, ABUD, JO, AROC, CWC, CBW, OPCW 
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): JORDANIAN 
RESPONSE TO QUESTIONNAIRES ON NATIONAL MEASURES FOR CWC 
IMPLEMENTATION 
 
REF: STATE 35668 
 
1. (SBU) On February 17, Poloff delivered reftel points and 
copies of OPCW Technical Secretariat (TS) questionnaires to 
Ayman Aamiri, Deputy Director of the MFA's IO Department.  On 
February 18, Poloff followed up on this issue with Jusuf 
Bataineh, the MFA's action officer on CWC issues.  Bataineh 
apologized for Jordan's tardiness in responding to the OPCW 
questionnaires thus far and identified bureaucratic problems 
within the GOJ as the cause of the delay. 
 
2. (SBU) According to Bataineh, when Jordan originally signed 
the CWC, it formed a "National Authority for the 
Implementation of the CWC" headed by a special office within 
the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) GHQ.  Under that original 
configuration the system worked well, Bataineh said, and the 
GOJ was able to respond to CWC-related inquiries in a timely 
manner.  Later, a decision was made to shift the authority's 
leadership from the JAF to the Ministry of Interior, after 
which (for reasons Bataineh did not specify) inter-agency 
cooperation broke down.  At present, the MFA is seeking 
approval from the PM's office to have Jordan's Civil Defense 
Authority take over the lead for CWC matters and hopes that 
this will result in a better run, more responsive, CWC 
national authority.  Bataineh stressed to poloff that "we are 
in regular contact with the PM's office on this.  It's at the 
top of our agenda."  He said that Jordan understands the 
importance of the OPCW questionnaires and all its obligations 
under the CWC and hopes to have responses ready shortly. 
 
3. (SBU) Bataineh also noted that the OPCW has invited Jordan 
to participate in a CWC workshop at the Hague in May. As 
presently envisioned, he and an official from Civil Defense 
will represent the GOJ. 
GNEHM