TFIZO1: AMMAN SITREP 29 (4/06 1730 LOCAL)

1. (C) The Embassy is operating on a normal schedule April


6. Consular services are open. Activities at the American
Language Center remain suspended, and there is only
restricted activity by FSN's at the Peace Corps office.
Movements of American staff remain restricted.



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Consular Issues


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2. (U) No new issues.



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GOJ Actions/Statements


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3. (U) According to Amman Al-Dustur daily on 5 April,
"prominent" Jordanian figures have expressed appreciation for
Prime Minister Ali Abu-al-Raghib's move of summoning the U.S.
ambassador on 3 April and informing him of Jordan's
categorical rejection of the "U.S. aggression against Iraq
and the massacres the American and British soldiers have
perpetrated against the brotherly Iraqi people."



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Security


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4. (U) The situation in Jordan was calm April 5. No
demonstrations were reported in Amman. A demonstration of
400-500 people took place in Irbid without incident. There
was also a candlelight march scheduled in Irbid at 1930, but
it was not expected to become violent.



5. (U) As of 1545 hrs local April 6, the situation in Jordan
was calm. A demonstration of 200 was held at a religious
university in Amman without incident. A group of lawyers
were denied permission to march from the court to the Prime
Ministry and instead held a 45 minute "strike" within the
courthouse. Speeches are planned at a Union Complex in the
evening.



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Economic and Trade Developments


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6. (SBU) Embassy interlocutors representing American fast
food and soft drink companies report that business is down,
but not as much as it was the week beginning March 30 .
While to date there has been no indication of an organized
boycott, some sermons in the mosques over this past weekend
called for boycotts of American and British products. In
addition, franchise owners said there has been no violence or
vandalism against their shops or infrastructure but are
worried that the bombing yesterday of a McDonald's near
Beirut may spawn copycats in Amman.



7. (SBU) The Amman Stock Exchange continued its trend of
heavier-than-normal volume from last week and closed up by 1%
on Sunday.



8. (SBU) Local newspapers quoted the Middle East Economic
Survey as saying that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will supply
Jordan with free crude oil for three months to replace Iraqi
oil. According to MEES, Kuwait will give Jordan 25,000
barrels of crude oil and Saudi Arabia 50,000 on a daily basis.



9. (C) The PM told the Ambassador April 6 that an increasing
number of reports were surfacing of canceled QIZ orders and
reduced volumes of new orders. The Ambassador noted that we
have received a few reports of order cancellations, but that
the volumes were not yet unexpectedly high. He told the PM
that the greater concern among QIZ exporters, as we
understood it, was the continued closure of the Sheikh
Hussein Bridge due to an ongoing Israeli customs strike,
which was restricting access to Israeli inputs for QIZ goods.
The Ambassador assured the PM that we are keeping close,
regular tabs on QIZ developments, and have already met in
Washington with U.S. garment importers to impress upon them
our continued support for the initiative. He added that both
Washington agencies and the Embassy have offered to talk to
any U.S. importers who have concerns or questions about the
QIZ's.



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Refugee/Humanitarian Issues


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10. (U) The Jordan-Iraq border remains open with the Iraqi
side still controlled and staffed by Iraqi government
officials. IOM reports that three TCNs entered Jordan from
Iraq overnight (April 5-6); still no sign of any Iraqi
refugees or asylum seekers.



11. (SBU) Refcoord and DART-West member visited Ruweished's
TCN transit and refugee camps on April 5. The Jordan Red
Crescent-run TCN transit camp, initially planned to
accommodate short-term residents, is struggling to
accommodate a longer-term population of approximately 100
Somalis and Sudanese who refuse to return home. (Total
transit camp population is currently 249.) As long as the
numbers of longer-term residents remain low, minor water &
sanitation problems in the camp should remain manageable.
UNHCR's still-empty refugee camp is well-organized and able
to accommodate an immediate influx of up to 5,000 refugees.
UNHCR reports that it is spending USD 1,000 per day to keep
the empty camp open & ready to accommodate refugees. Further
details will be reported septel.



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Press


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12. (SBU) PA contacts reported that a group of journalists,
including representatives from CBS and Sky television,
arrived safely on Saturday in Baghdad. The safe arrival of
this group has prompted other journalists to show interest in
crossing the border from Jordan into Iraq.

GNEHM