Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03AMMAN2669
2003-05-06 07:24:00
SECRET
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

REQUEST TO TERMINATE AUTHORIZED DEPARTURE FOR

Tags:  AEMR ASEC AMGT PTER CASC KFLO PGOV JO 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
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)

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