COOPERATIVE MONITORING CENTER LAUNCHED IN AMMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007275

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/RA LAWSON, PM/RSAT, NP/RA CROUCH
TEL AVIV FOR ECON GUMBINER
DOE FOR NNSA/ONP SCOTT DAVIS AND SANDIA/CMC PREGENZER
OSD FOR OSD/ISA/NESA

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PARM PBTS PINR PREL PTER JO MEPN
SUBJECT: COOPERATIVE MONITORING CENTER LAUNCHED IN AMMAN



1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The Ambassador and visiting officials
from the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security
Administration and Sandia National Laboratories recently
inaugurated the Cooperative Monitoring Center (CMC) in
Amman. CMC/Amman is modeled after the CMC at Sandia, which
has been a leading force in promoting cooperation through
technology in myriad fields, such as disarmament, non-
proliferation, border security, public health, as well as
environmental and resource management. The hope for
CMC/Amman is for it to help regional security officials and
scientific experts bridge the gap between technical and
political issues. Regional activities involving Israel,
however, may not be soon in the offing because of a go-slow
approach favored by the CMC/Amman director in the current
political climate. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Under the patronage of Jordan's science and
technology czar, Prince Hassan, who was represented at the
October 16 ceremony by his son, Prince Rashid, the CMC/Amman
officially opened its doors for business. The Ambassador
attended, as did the NEA Regional Environment Officer.
Remarks, universally focusing on technology as a means to
enhance regional security and prosperity, were made by Royal
Scientific Society (RSS) President Saad Hijazi, U.S.
Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security
Administration Office of Nonproliferation Deputy Director
Scott Davis, and CMC/Sandia Director Dr. Arian Pregenzer.


3. (SBU) Housed on the RSS campus, the CMC/Amman will be
able to draw on the technical expertise, and human and
administrative resources of the RSS to further its agenda.
Amman was chosen as the site for Sandia's "sister" CMC
because of the excellent capacity at the RSS and for
Jordan's strategic location in the region as well as its
close working relationships with neighboring countries.


4. (SBU) CMC/Amman's mission will be to promote science and
technology to resolve nonproliferation, arms control, and
other security issues; develop a culture of information
sharing within the Middle East through education and
training; deploy monitoring technology that will allow
regional countries to experiment with the technology and
share experiences; and help regional security officials
bridge the gap between technical and political issues.
CMC/Amman can assist Jordan and its neighbors to build the
necessary technical capabilities to support international
treaties.


5. (SBU) To this end, CMC/Amman already hosted its first
training workshop in July, when Sandia staff introduced 16
Jordanian military, security, and intelligence officials to
the concepts of cooperative monitoring. Future workshops
and regional symposia are being planned by the director of
the CMC/Amman, General (Ret.) Mohammed Shiyyab. Shiyyab has
been a long-time player in regional security issues and
initiatives, having participated in his country's
negotiations with Israel in the lead-up to their peace
treaty, as well as having participated in the multilateral
ACRS (Arms Control and Regional Security) process.


6. (SBU) While extremely enthusiastic about the project,
Shiyyab has cautiously warned that, at the outset, because
of domestic sensitivities, CMC/Amman should focus its scope
of work on domestic or Arab-to-Arab issues that will obviate
the need to involve Jordan's immediate neighbor to the west--
Israel. Shiyyab, in his opening remarks, hinted that the
current political climate was not conducive to jumping in
full-force on regional security cooperation. It is
necessary to proceed deliberately to ensure that the
CMC/Amman could claim success stories that would help
establish its reputation, he recommended.


7. (SBU) COMMENT: We look favorably on the CMC/Amman as a
mechanism to help promote several key elements of regional
security in the Middle East. By focusing on monitoring
technologies to support major arms control treaties, border
management, and natural resource management, and fostering
dialog and data sharing among regional partners, as well as
institutional capacity building, the CMC/Amman could
contribute to a more stable and prosperous Middle East. The
key will be to get CMC/Amman's leadership and patrons to
reach out to Israel and other neighbors to make their work
significant.

GNEHM