US embassy cable - 03AMMAN2669

S E C R E T AMMAN 002669 
 
SIPDIS 
 
U/S FOR MANAGEMENT GRANT GREEN 
NEA FOR A/S BURNS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2023 
TAGS: AEMR, ASEC, AMGT, PTER, CASC, KFLO, PGOV, JO 
SUBJECT: REQUEST TO TERMINATE AUTHORIZED DEPARTURE FOR 
AMEMBASSY JORDAN 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 1902 
     B. AMMAN 2398 
     C. AMMAN 2137 
     D. AMMAN 2540 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Gregory L. Berry for reasons 
1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
 1.  (C) The post EAC met on 29 April 2003 to review 
security conditions and events following the end of 
military operations in Iraq.  Apart from the incident 
reported in reftel C, there have been no security- 
related incidents involving Americans recently. 
Nevertheless, the EAC decided to postpone a recommendation 
to lift authorized departure pending consultations with 
local security services and the Department. It was agreed 
that the EAC would meet again to reassess the situation 
once those consultations had taken place. 
 
2.  (S/NF) On 4 May 2003 the EAC met again to hear 
reports from the RSO and ORCA on their meetings with 
Jordanian security authorities. They reported that their 
GoJ contacts had informed them that anti-American emotions 
had decreased substantially with the end of the war in 
Iraq and recommended that family members who had been 
evacuated be permitted to return to post.  The RSO also 
consulted with the Threat Analysis Division within DS 
regarding our assessment of the current security climate 
provided in ref D.  DS concurs with this assessment. 
 
3.  (C)  On the political front, we are beginning to 
move past war-related concerns with the GoJ and are 
resuming work on important issues which took a lower 
priority during the war.  Although many of our 
Jordanian contacts continue to express their disapproval 
of U.S. actions in Iraq, and although news about Iraq 
still figures prominently in the press, a shift in 
attention to the upcoming elections and the Arab-Israeli 
Peace Process is increasingly evident. Although EAC 
members understand that serious security threats remain in 
Amman -- just as they did before the Iraq war -- there 
is a real sense of life beginning to return to normal 
in Jordan. 
 
4.  (C) Post has taken a deliberate and cautious approach 
to determining whether security conditions supported the 
lifting of authorized departure. Given the above 
assessment, it is the sense of the EAC that the threat 
level in Jordan has decreased to roughly where it was 
before the war. It is time to allow family members and 
non-emergency personnel to return to Jordan.  Therefore, 
with the unanimous agreement of the EAC, I recommend 
that the authorized departure for Amman be terminated 
when the current period expires on May 7, 2003. 
 
5.  (C)  Ambassador Gnehm, who is away from post, concurs 
in this recommendation. 
 
6.  (U)  Please advise. 
BERRY