JORDANIAN INSPECTORS IN UNMOVIC?

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 006764

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2007
TAGS: PREL MCAP MARR IZ JO
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN INSPECTORS IN UNMOVIC?


Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm. Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) This message contains an action request for USUN.
Please see para 6.


2. (C) On November 17, the MFA's Legal Advisor Samer Naber
informally provided Poloff information on possible Jordanian
participation in UNMOVIC (Note: Poloff was meeting with Naber
on other issues when Naber received a phone call from FonMin
Muasher on the UNMOVIC issue. Poloff then queried Naber on
the subject. End Note.)


3. (C) Naber said that in 2000, following passage of UNSCR
1284, the GOJ had conveyed to UNMOVIC Chief Hans Blix a list
of 22 Jordanian experts that it believed met the basic
qualifications for participation in UNMOVIC inspection teams.
At the time, Naber noted, the GOJ felt that Arab
participation in UNMOVIC would help provide added credibility
for UNMOVIC in the region. Of the 22 names submitted, Blix
later identified 3 Jordanians (2 with Chemical expertise, and
one with biological expertise) for additional specialized
training. Two of these three individuals did, in fact,
receive UNMOVIC training. Blix, according to Naber, told the
GOJ they were the only Arab government to offer experts to
UNMOVIC.


4. (C) Naber characterized the actions in 2000 as a "file
and forget" exercise that until this past week had lain
dormant. Then, on November 10, the Arab League Ministerial
issued a decision calling on UNMOVIC to include Arab weapons
inspectors in its teams, and Blix reportedly told the press
that Arab participation in UNMOVIC already existed
(apparently referring to the Jordanians). Since the AL
decision and Blix's statement, the GOJ has received a number
of press and other queries on the subject.


5. (C) Naber said the GOJ still supports the idea of
Jordanian participation in UNMOVIC and believes that it can
only strengthen the credibility of UNMOVIC's work among Arab
audiences. That said, Naber gave no indication that the GOJ
is pushing the matter, noting that "in the end it will be up
to Blix to decide who he wants on his teams." Naber also
told Poloff that the MFA is unsure whether Blix has actually
contacted the Jordanian experts recently to request their
participation in the soon-to-be-deployed inspection teams, or
whether they simply are part of UNMOVIC's reserve pool.
(Note: Naber said that the experts in question are not GOJ
employees or officials. The MFA, he said, has been trying to
verify with them and with the UN Secretariat in New York
their present status vis-a-vis UNMOVIC.)

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Comment/Action Request
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6. (C) As the information above indicates, there is a bit of
confusion regarding the current status of the three Jordanian
experts in UNMOVIC and what, if any, role they may play in
the weeks ahead. We agree with the MFA's view that Jordanian
participation in UNMOVIC could play a useful role in
demonstrating the Commission's fairness and blunting charges
from skeptical Arab audiences that it is simply a smokescreen
for U.S. "aggression." Post would welcome any clarity on the
status of the Jordanians that USUN can obtain from UN
representatives in New York.

GNEHM