S/CT COORDINATOR TAYLOR'S OCTOBER 10 MEETING WITH

1. (S/NF) In a cordial meeting October 10 with FonMin
Muasher, visiting S/CT Coordinator Francis X. Taylor conveyed
the U.S.'s appreciation for Jordan's superb cooperation on
the war on terrorism, reiterated strong U.S. interest in
stopping Iranian resupply flights to Hizbullah, and said that
as the international community's combined efforts to fight
terror proceeds, a greater focus will center on the legal
sphere. Muasher noted that, after an apparent lull,
Hizbullah -- with Syrian blessing -- has once again
ratcheted up its activities. The Syrians, Muasher opined,
want to make sure "no one forgets them." End Summary.



2. (C) Visiting S/CT Coordinator Francis Taylor, accompanied
by the Ambassador, S/CT Mark Shaheen, and Poloff, met with
Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher October 10. Also present was
Muasher's personal assistant Ashraf Zeitoon.



--------------------------


Many Thanks


--------------------------





3. (C) Ambassador Taylor began the meeting by conveying to
Muasher the USG's "great appreciation for Jordan's superb
coordination with us and with others in the war on
terrorism." Taylor characterized U.S.-Jordanian CT
cooperation as "strong as any we have." FM Muasher responded
that "we too are happy" with the level of CT cooperation
between the two countries. In this context, Muasher noted
joint U.S.-GOJ efforts to extradite Mullah Krekar from the
Netherlands as a concrete example of that cooperation (He
also characterized Dutch action thus far on the Krekar case
as "not as helpful as they could be.")



4. (C) Taylor agreed that the Krekar case constituted an
important opportunity, and added that it highlighted the
increasingly important role cooperation in the legal sphere
will play in the war on terrorism. He said that UNSCR 1373
has provided the international community the framework to
tackle the threat of terrorism, and it is now vitally
important for countries to put in place laws to make that
happen. He underlined that the U.S. stood ready to assist
Jordan in any way in this effort.



--------------------------


Iranian Overflights


--------------------------





5. (S/NF) Ambassador Taylor then raised the issue of Iranian
overflights and the destabilizing consequences of Iran's
resupply of weaponry to Hizbullah. Taylor stressed that
"this is a very, very important issue for us, and one we are
raising with all our partners in the region. We want to shut
it off, and get the Iranians to change their approach." He
noted that visiting Washington analysts had had very useful
discussions earlier that day with their Jordanian
counterparts.



6. (S/NF) Muasher responded that Jordan "wants to do what we
can" on the issue. He noted two concerns: (1) "that we can
do this under international law," and (2) that the flights
"are only over our territory for three minutes." Although
stating that Jordan takes this issue seriously and would
study any new information the U.S. provides carefully, he
added "we think the Saudis' ability to act is much greater
than ours."



--------------------------


Hizbullah's Actions and Syrian Motivations


--------------------------





7. (S) Muasher noted that Hizbullah's activities "appear to
be picking up again, after a lull for a while." (Note:
Earlier in the day, the GID had provided Ambassador Taylor an
extensive briefing on Hizbullah's activities in the region
and in Jordan, and on the GOJ's efforts to counter them. End
note.) The reason for this, he said, was that "the Syrians
want to tell everyone not to forget them, not to exclude
them. Since 9/11 they have felt nervous that their role in
the Peace Process is not as it was before, and that they
don't have as much power to control things as they once did.
They are not happy with our role because we have kind of
replaced them as the third leg, and they are also clashing
more and more with the Saudis and the Egyptians. At every
meeting we have with them, I end up having an argument with
Shara'a -- I don't even have to open my mouth."



8. (U) Ambassador Taylor cleared on this message.
GNEHM