TFIZO1: AMMAN SITREP 27 (4/04 1000 LOCAL)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002033 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y////UPGRADED TO CONFIDENTIAL//// SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2013 TAGS: AEMR AMGT PREL ASEC CASC CVIS EFIN ETRD IZ JO SUBJECT: TFIZO1: AMMAN SITREP 27 (4/04 1000 LOCAL) REF: (A) FBIS GMP20030403000278 (B) FBIS GMP20030403000277 (C) AMMAN 2029 CLASSIFIED BY:DCM GREGORY L. BERRY, REASONS 1.5 (B,D) -------------- General Overview -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The Embassy is closed April 4 for the Jordanian weekend. It will reopen for regular business on Sunday, April 6. The movement of American staff remains restricted. -------------- Consular Issues -------------- ¶2. (U) See information about AMCIT reporter in para 9 below. -------------- GOJ Actions/Statements -------------- ¶3. (U) The official Petra news service reported that King Abdullah and Egyptian President Mubarak discussed the regional situation in a telephone call April 3. According to the Petra account the two leaders "underlined the importance of searching for all means to stop the war as quickly as possible. They also warned against the effects of this war on the innocent Iraqi civilians." (ref A) ¶4. (U) The Government-affiliated Arabic daily Al-Rai gave extensive coverage in its April 3 edition to remarks made by PM Ali Abul Ragheb in an April 2 meeting with members of the Jordanian Senate and several ministers (ref B). Stressing a message of national unity, Abul Ragheb stated that the current situation in the region "prompts us more than any time in the past to preserve the cohesion of our internal front. Also, we must not allow any side to exploit these circumstances to practice oneupsmanship or cast doubt in our national and Pan-Arab stands." Rebutting recent criticisms of GOJ positions vis-a-vis Iraq, Abul Ragheb said "we welcome suggestions and ideas and advice, but oneupsmanship must not be practiced at the expense of the country. We were accused of allowing U.S. troops to be stationed in Jordan to participate in the war against Iraq and this is absolutely untrue." ¶5. (U) In the same press account of the meeting, the President of the Jordanian Senate, Zaid al-Rifai, echoed the PM's remarks stating "all of us highly commend His Majesty King Abdullah II's stands and appreciate the arduous efforts he made to prevent the war and his current intensive efforts to stop it . . . It is our joint responsibility to preserve the Kingdom and its security and stability under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II." -------------- Security -------------- ¶6. (U) Nothing new to report -- we will report on likely weekend demonstrations in subsequent sitrep. -------------- Economic and Trade Developments -------------- ¶7. (U) Nothing new to report. -------------- Refugee/Humanitarian Issues -------------- ¶8. (U) Nothing new to report. -------------- Press -------------- E.O. 12958: DECL:04/04/2013 ¶9. (C) A crew from ABC Television planned to cross the Jordan-Iraq border on the morning of April 4, but apparently changed their minds after appraising the situation from the border. Also on April 4, a four vehicle convoy consisting of foreign correspondents from CBS, London Times, Sky News, Portuguese TV, the Toronto Star, as well as two French freelancers and two South African journalists planned to enter Iraq via Jordan. A second vehicle convoy of two to three vehicles from France's Channel two also reportedly departed Amman for the Iraqi border. There are no AMCITS in either convoy. ¶10. (C) On April 4, local media reported the April 3 meeting with Ambassador Gnehm and PM Abul Ragheb (ref C),with the Jordan Times calling it a "summons" in their headline. The media drew largely from the Petra News Agency story. The JT quoted the Ambassador, "we have differences of opinion from time to time, at the same time, we have some common views of things, and one of them is government of Jordan's desire to be very active and very much involved in the humanitarian effort for the Iraqi people." Editorials surmised that the King's interview, followed by the PM's summons to the Ambassador, now makes clear the GOJ's position of solidarity with the Iraqi people. The local media also reported April 4 the King's telephone conversation with Mubarak (para 3). ¶11. (C) Al Destour led with a story on "27 Iraqi civilians killed and 193 wounded in airstrike," and ran a front-page picture of a young boy who had lost his arms. Al-Rai reported Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's "latest warning" to Syria, and reported the Iraqi regime's "denial" of the coalition forces approach to Baghdad. GNEHM