US embassy cable - 03AMMAN1875

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001875 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AEMR, AMGT, ASEC, CASC, CVIS, EFIN, ETRD, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: TFIZO1: AMMAN SITREP 18 (3/29 1100 LOCAL) 
 
REF: (A) FBIS EUP20030328000120 
 
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General Overview 
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1. (SBU) The Embassy is closed March 29 for the Jordanian 
weekend.  It will open for regular business on Sunday, March 
30.  The movement of American staff remains restricted. 
 
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Consular Issues 
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2. (SBU) Embassy's Crisis Liaison Unit received e-mail from 
Task Force 1, CA with information that the Iraqi Government 
is planning to expel from Baghdad a Christian Peacemaker Team 
with five Amcits this morning (3/29), along with two other 
Amcits.  Group expects to travel along the Baghdad-Amman 
highway and is concerned they may be fired on.  Information 
has been passed on to Task Force West personnel in the 
Embassy. 
 
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GOJ Actions/Statements 
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3. (U) FM Marwan Muasher, in a 3/28 interview with the 
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera (ref A), reiterated 
that "there have not been, there are not, and there will not 
be any attacks on Iraq from our territory or from our air 
space.  The rumors circulating in that sense are false." 
While acknowledging that U.S. soldiers are in the Kingdom 
manning Patriot missile batteries, and for logistics and 
defensive operations, Muasher stated "there are no troops 
preparing offensive operations against Iraq.  I rule that out 
categorically and I challenge anyone to provide proof to the 
contrary."  On political relations with the U.S., Muasher 
noted "we have differences, including of a substantial 
nature, with the United States with this war, but our 
relations with Washington are solid and strong, both on the 
political and on the economic level.  No one can question 
that."  On the outcome of the current situation, Muasher 
stated "There is no doubt about who is going to win this war, 
but a military victory is not necessarily a political 
victory.  The thought of imposing democracy in the Arab world 
is infantile.  Democracy is built up through participation; 
Iraq must belong to the Iraqis." 
 
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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. (U) No new issues. 
 
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Refugee/Humanitarian Issues 
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6. (U) No new issues. 
 
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Press 
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7. (SBU) At approximately 0100, Embassy Press Officer was 
contacted by Lisa Barron of CBS Radio, who said that five of 
the journalists who had gone missing from Baghdad in recent 
days had arrived in Syria, and one had arrived in Jordan. 
According to Barron, she had received information that Molly 
Bingham (Amcit freelance photographer), Matthew McAllester 
(UK citizen and Newsday journalist), Moises Saman (Spanish 
citizen and Newsday photographer), Philip Robert Latasa 
(Amcit peace activist) and Johan Deng Spanner (Danish 
photographer) had safely arrived in Syria.  She also reported 
that Nate Thayer (Amcit journalist for Esquire and Slate.com) 
had arrived in Jordan.  Embassy conveyed this information to 
CMS Task Force 1J-PA at 0130 local via e-mail. 
 
GNEHM