US embassy cable - 03AMMAN2208

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002208 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2013 
TAGS: AEMR, AMGT, PREL, ASEC, CASC, CVIS, EFIN, ETRD, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: TFIZO1: AMMAN SITREP 34 (4/11 1630 LOCAL) 
 
 
Classified By: PolCouns Doug Silliman for reasons 1.5 (B)(D). 
 
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General Overview 
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1. (SBU) Embassy Amman was closed for the first day of the 
local weekend on April 11, and will be closed for the second 
day of the weekend on April 12.  American staff movements 
remain restricted. 
 
2. (SBU) Absent any significant events, Embassy Amman will 
take Saturday, April 12 off.  Our next sitrep will be on 
Sunday, April 13. 
 
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Consular Issues 
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3. (U) No new developments to report. 
 
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GOJ Actions/Statements 
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4. (C) King Abdullah and Queen Rania in a joint interview 
with the official Petra news agency April 10 said that it is 
the duty of every Jordanian to assist the Iraqi people and to 
support efforts to provide necessary aid to Iraqis.  The King 
called on the army to set up a field hospital to treat Iraqi 
wounded, and said he might ask the army to set up a second as 
well.  The King told the Embassy that he wants the hospital 
to be in Iraq, probably at ar-Ramadi on the Amman-Baghdad 
highway.  The King also ordered that a number of injured 
Iraqis be brought to Jordan for medical treatment as soon as 
it is safe for them to make the journey.  Information 
Minister Mohammed Adwan said that first priority of Jordan 
should be to help Iraqis "overcome this predicament."  He 
declared that the Iraqi people must be the ones to determine 
their own future. 
 
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Security 
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4. (U) Police report that the situation was calm throughout 
Jordan April 11. 
 
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Economic and Trade Developments 
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5. (C)  FM Marwan Muasher April 10 again publicly denied 
reports that Jordan is talking to Israel about the 
possibility of re-opening the Mosul-Haifa oil pipeline. 
Speaking to al Jazeera, Muasher said warming of relations 
between Jordan and Israel would be contingent upon further 
movement on the Roadmap.  Energy Minister Batayneh reiterated 
Muasher's denial to local press, noting the pipeline has been 
out of use since 1948.  According to the local Arabic daily 
Al Rai on April 10, portions of the line are in serious 
disrepair, and other portions are currently being used to 
convey water.  Visual inspection of the line by ECON FSN 
confirmed a pipeline in seriously dilapidated condition.  It 
is unlikely to be feasible to re-open the line (a 12-inch 
line with a likely capacity of only 200,000 bpd that would 
need wholesale rehabilitation), though an argument could be 
made in the future to construct a new line. 
 
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Refugee/Humanitarian Issues 
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6. (U) UNHCR reports a small trickle of TCNs into Jordan 
April 10-11, but was unable to provide specific numbers or 
nationalities. 
 
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Press 
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7. (U) Post understands that a group of journalists who 
crossed the Jordan-Iraq border late afternoon on April 10 on 
its way to Baghdad, including CBS anchor Dan Rather and 
several other Amcits, has arrived safely in Baghdad.  Another 
group of journalists, including several Amcits, crossed the 
border early April 11 and are reported to be at a 101st 
Airborne checkpoint short of Baghdad.  We also understand 
that some other journalists of undetermined nationality 
crossed the Jordan-Iraq border headed for Baghdad later on 
April 11, but we have no information on there whereabouts. 
GNEHM