US embassy cable - 03AMMAN1842

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001842 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2013 
TAGS: AEMR, AMGT, ASEC, CASC, CVIS, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: TFIZO1: AMMAN SITREP 13 (3/26 1915 LOCAL) 
 
REF: (A) CAIRO 2311 
 
Classified By: Acting DCM Doug Silliman. Reason 1.5 (b,d). 
 
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General Overview 
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1. (C) The Embassy continued on a normal schedule throughout 
March 26.  Consular services were open.  Activities at the 
American Language Center and Peace Corps Office remain 
suspended.  Movements for American staff remain restricted. 
A freezing rain fell on Amman all day today, keeping most 
people off the streets.  We received no reports from PSD of 
any demonstrations today. 
 
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Consular Issues 
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2. (U) No new issues. 
 
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GOJ Actions/Statements 
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3. (C)  FonMin Muasher's personal assistant confirmed to the 
A/DCM today that, contrary to information contained in ref a, 
Muasher did not/not attend the March 24 Arab League 
Ministerial in Cairo.  Jordan was represented by its 
Ambassador to Egypt and Representative to the AL, Hani 
al-Mulki. 
 
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Security 
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4. (U) No new issues. 
 
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Economic and Trade Developments 
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5. (sbu) The Jordanian American Business Association (JABA), 
the AmCham in Jordan, agreed at a Board of Directors meeting 
Tuesday to temporarily close its office for security reasons. 
 While JABA officials said there had been no specific threat 
against the organization, the bombing Monday of British 
Council offices in Beirut raised some concern among the 
members.   The office is located in the Shmeisani 
neighborhood in Amman, the site of some recent 
demonstrations.  However, American fast-food restaurant 
owners reported that Monday's anticipated march on the 
restaurants (Amman 1800) never materialized, perhaps, they 
said, due to the cold weather. 
 
6. (sbu) Banks and capital markets continue to observe no 
unusual activity.  The Amman Stock Exchange was up .49% today 
in normal trading.  A local financial market participant told 
econoff that, for now, investors were trying to conduct 
"business as usual" despite being bombarded by news and 
events that were at times "overwhelming",  and that the 
market is still hoping for a short war.  Airport authorities 
said that traffic was getting back to normal, although there 
is no service at present to or from Kuwait.  Jordan Telecom 
said that both the mobile and fixed-line networks were 
operating smoothly, and that, in fact, the company was 
installing additional phone lines at the camps near 
Ruweished. 
 
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Refugee/Humanitarian Issues 
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7. (SBU) Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) sent a two truck 
convoy (driven by Jordanian nationals) into Iraq at 0900 
local time March 26.  MSF sent convoy information to the HOC, 
OCHA and DART/Amman.  We passed the information to 
appropriate military officers and the HOC.  MSF was advised 
that the road was not secure and that travel at this time 
would be extremely dangerous.  MSF elected to proceed.  The 
Iraqi side of the border is controlled by Iraqi officials, 
who allowed the convoy to enter Iraq.  The convoy's 
destination is Baghdad. 
 
8. (SBU) IOM reports that there were no/no arrivals at the 
Iraq-Jordan border over the last 24 hours.  There are 
currently 169 TCNs resident in the transit camp.  Still no 
sign of Iraqi refugees/asylum seekers. 
 
9. (SBU) Horrible weather conditions (50-km/hr winds, rain & 
sandstorms) have ground IOM repatriation efforts to a halt. 
IOM reports that TCNs are unable to even open their tents 
without the tents blowing over.  The rubhall and several 
unoccupied tents have blown away.  IOM and the Jordan Red 
Crescent are trying to fortify tents and have requested 1,000 
additional spikes from UNHCR.  IOM canceled today's planned 
repatriation of five Sudanese nationals and will not 
reschedule until weather conditions improve. 
10. (SBU) UNRWA and IOM officials confirmed that the 20 
Palestinians previously held at the no-man's land at the 
border were moved into the transit camp on March 25.  Two 
members of the group are Jordanian citizens but have elected 
to stay with their families in the transit camp until their 
situation is resolved.  UNRWA visited the group yesterday and 
determined that 1 person does not qualify as an UNRWA 
refugee, while 1 clearly qualifies.  The other cases are 
under review.  UNRWA cautioned, however, that UNRWA refugee 
status will not affect the Palestinians' ability to enter 
Jordan -- that decision is up to the GOJ immigration 
authorities alone.  GOJ authorities have indicated to UNRWA 
and IOM that they plan to hold the Palestinians in the 
transit camp indefinitely. 
 
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Press 
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11. (sbu)  Jordan papers were dominated by lead articles 
rejecting Iraqi charges against Jordan and columns defending 
the country's record as pro-Arab.  Other editorials 
reiterated their belief that the quick coalition victory that 
some expected has not been achieved because Iraqis are 
defending their homeland while American and British soldiers 
are only "fighting for oil." 
GNEHM