Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03AMMAN7805
2003-12-02 10:14:00
SECRET
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

KING ABDULLAH TALKS WITH NEA A/S BURNS ON IRAQ,

Tags:  PREL PGOV ECON EAID KPAL IS IZ 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 SECTION 01 OF 04 AMMAN 007805 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EAID KPAL IS IZ JO
SUBJECT: KING ABDULLAH TALKS WITH NEA A/S BURNS ON IRAQ,
ROADMAP, U.S. BILATERAL ASSISTANCE, FROZEN IRAQI ASSETS,
AND ARTICLE 98

Classified By: CDA David M. Hale for reasons 1.5 (b) (d)

-------
SUMMARY
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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 AMMAN 007805

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EAID KPAL IS IZ JO
SUBJECT: KING ABDULLAH TALKS WITH NEA A/S BURNS ON IRAQ,
ROADMAP, U.S. BILATERAL ASSISTANCE, FROZEN IRAQI ASSETS,
AND ARTICLE 98

Classified By: CDA David M. Hale for reasons 1.5 (b) (d)

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (S) NEA A/S Burns briefed King Abdullah and other senior
GOJ officials on his discussion with Abu Alaa, noting that
the Palestinians have an opportunity to move the roadmap
forward, but must take concrete security steps. The King
agreed and said Jordan would deliver the same message to Abu
Alaa. The King and FonMin Muasher differed somewhat on plans
to return an ambassador to Tel Aviv. The King expressed
pride in Jordan's assistance in rebuilding Iraq, especially
on the security side. The King reiterated his commitment to
reaching an Article 98 agreement with the U.S., and hoped
mutually acceptable language could be negotiated soon. He
also expressed concerns about Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia,
and Iran.


2. (S) The King thanked the U.S. for the FY04 supplemental
appropriation and hoped it could go toward the GOJ's Social
and Economic Transformation Program (SETP). The King and PM
Fayez agreed to accelerate transfer of USD 150 million in
frozen Iraqi assets, with the balance to come after
settlement of Jordanian claims. The King asked for
"consideration" of Jordan's USD 1.33 billion trade claims on
Iraq, and Burns hoped the USG could send a team soon to help
address this issue. PM Fayez said his extensive contacts
with the opposition and civil society would lead to a
concrete political and social reform program, including new
political party and elections laws before the next
parliamentary elections. He said he would also use this
dialogue to explain difficult but necessary economic steps
like price increases and privatization. END SUMMARY

--------------
JORDAN'S ASSISTANCE IN IRAQ
--------------


3. (S) NEA A/S Burns met separately November 30 with King
Abdullah and Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez, and November 29
with Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher. Muasher and Planning

Minister Bassam Awadallah attended the meeting with Prime
Minister Fayez; Charge and PolCouns joined throughout. Burns
thanked the King for Jordan's continuing assistance in
rebuilding Iraq, noting that a large group of Iraqi police
trainees had arrived in Jordan the previous night. The King
noted that Jordanian special forces would train an Iraqi
counterterrorism unit that he hoped would be operational in
Iraq by April 2004. The King characterized 2004 as "the year
of training and handing back" authority in Iraq, and pledged
Jordan's continued support in that effort.


4. (C) PM Fayez complained that the media -- especially
Arabic satellite channels -- are distorting the situation in
Iraq by reporting only the negative and ignoring the many
positive aspects. Even in the Sunni Triangle, he said,
institutions are being strengthened and police and military
are starting to come back onto the streets.

--------------
MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ABU ALAA
--------------


5. (S) Burns briefed the King, PM, and FonMin on his
November 29 meeting in Amman with Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei
(Abu Alaa). Burns said that the installation of the
government of Abu Alaa provides an opportunity to move
forward on the roadmap, but only if the Palestinians take
concrete steps on security. He noted that we had provided
Abu Alaa with a list of possible concrete security steps the
PNA could take immediately. The King agreed that the
Palestinians needed to seize the opportunity and act quickly,
saying that he would tell Abu Alaa later in the day that the
PNA needed to take real steps on security. The King praised
the Geneva Accord, saying that it could energize the peace
movement and restore hope in an eventual settlement. The
King and PM expressed grave concern about Israel's security
wall, arguing that it makes a two-state solution more
difficult to achieve. Muasher stressed that the two-state
solution has particular importance for Jordan.

-------------- --------------
GOOD COP, BAD COP ON RETURN OF AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL
-------------- --------------


6. (C) The King said he hoped to return a Jordanian
Ambassador to Tel Aviv soon, noting that he would not wait
for Egypt to do the same. The pre-Eid release of 10
Jordanians imprisoned in Israel provided Jordan enough cover
with its domestic opposition, the King said, and he wanted to
send back an Ambassador in the context of the return of the
remaining 71 prisoners. FonMin Muasher said he would now be
willing to receive Israeli FonMin Silvan Shalom in Amman, and
would see him later in the week at a Euro-Med conference in
Naples. However, he said, it remains necessary to
demonstrate to Jordanians, especially foes of the peace
process, that there are concrete rewards -- such as prisoner
releases -- that come out of the relationship with Israel.
Muasher was critical of Israeli handling of the prisoner
issue, saying that Israel needed to find a way to release the
four Jordanians convicted of killing an Israeli soldier. He
described Israel's release of ten Jordanians last week as
"not serious or credible" given Israel's willingness to
compromise with Hizballah on the release prisoners with
"blood on their hands." He complained that Israel was taking
Jordan "for granted."
--------------
SYRIA AND LEBANON MOVING HIGHER ON THE AGENDA
--------------


7. (S) The King said that he plans to raise soon with
Syrian president Bashar al-Asad Jordan's border complaints
against Syria. The King said that Syrian forces had occupied
Jordanian territory after Jordanian forces repositioned
themselves to "clean up the line and gain better visibility"
along the border in order to deal better with infiltrations.
He said that he or PM Fayez would go to Damascus in the near
future to address this issue. Burns described for the King
the Syrian Accountability Act and its likely impact.


8. (C) The King also mentioned that he would tell President
Bush of his growing concern over Syrian maneuvering in
Lebanon, noting that he may ask the President to consider
increasing international pressure on Syria to withdraw its
forces from Lebanon. (Note: Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri
recently visited Jordan and met King Abdullah. End note.)

--------------
SAUDI SECURITY SERVICES INEPT
--------------


9. (S) The King said that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah has
been shocked by the recent bombings in Riyadh. The GID had
sent a team to spend six weeks in Saudi Arabia to strengthen
ties with and help rebuild Saudi intelligence services, but
the team found the Saudi services inept and fraught with
internal divisions and infighting. He said he had sent "a
watered-down report" on the GID's findings to CP Abdullah and
briefed him orally on the gravity of their findings, but
doubted that the necessary steps to fix the problems could be
taken quickly.

--------------
THE SETP, TRANSPARENCY, AND CONDITIONALITY
--------------


10. (C) The King and PM thanked the U.S. for the USD 100
million supplemental ESF appropriation (and the PM mentioned
that the same would be appreciated for FY05 as well). The
King hoped that all of this money could go into the Social
and Economic Transformation Plan (SETP),saying the SETP had
greater transparency than the regular budget and was focused
on the sort of socio-economic projects that we both valued.
"In the SETP, I know exactly where the money goes," the King
declared. Burns encouraged the King, PM, and Planning
Minister to support the World Bank's request for an
independent audit of the SETP as a step in Jordan's
self-interest.


11. (C) Planning Minister Awadallah asked that the U.S. be
"a little bit lenient" in imposing conditions on the
supplemental appropriation, arguing that "we already have
enough conditionalities on the USD 700 million" FY03
supplemental. Burns countered that the conditionality is
meant to reinforce decisions the GOJ has already decided to
make.

--------------
REFORM AGENDA: "A MODEL FOR THE REGION"
--------------


12. (C) Fayez said he wants Jordan's planned political,
economic, and social liberalization to be "a model for the
region." He said that the government does not yet have a
concrete program for political and social reform, but that he
would develop one in consultation with Parliament, political
parties, Islamists, NGOs and other elements of civil society.
He noted that he had already begun the process of
consultation, and had already warned the opposition of the
necessity of price hikes on petroleum and other products and
provided them with justification for the moves -- through
this process he hoped to quiet somewhat the reaction of the
opposition. "In the past we always denied there would be
price hikes, then made them anyway."


13. (C) Other difficult issues he would raise in these
conversations would be privatization and political
liberalization. He said he hoped to reach a consensus on
revisions to the political party and elections laws and have
new laws in place for the 2007 parliamentary elections (or,
at least, for 2011 elections).

-------------- --------------
FASTER ASSETS TRANSFER, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE 1.3 BILLION?
-------------- --------------


14. (C) Burns thanked the King and PM for Jordan's
agreement to transfer USD 150 million in frozen Iraqi assets
to the Development Fund for Iraq, and asked that the
remainder of the frozen funds be transferred as soon as
possible. The King and Fayez agreed to accelerate the
payment of the pledged USD 150 million to the DFI. PM Fayez
said that, as soon as all the claims of Jordanian businessmen
had been settled, he would be ready to transfer the remainder
of the money "the next day."


15. (C) PM Fayez said the GOJ would come under pressure in
Parliament in December regarding the status of the Jordanian
Central Bank's USD 1.33 billion trade ledger claims against
Iraq. Even Kuwait -- a country much wealthier than Jordan --
is insisting on payment of its claims against Iraq. Burns
said that the U.S. does not underestimate the importance of
the USD 1.3 billion trade ledger to Jordan, but wants to look
at technical options to address it. He hoped that
Washington would be able to put together a team to address
the issue in the near future. Fayez said Jordan would
welcome a team, but it would have to be empowered to speak on
the status of the trade ledger, not just make technical
fixes. In a later meeting, the King acknowledged that Jordan
may have sent conflicting signals to the U.S. on this issue
because of the variety of channels involved. He said he had
never intended to link the release of frozen Iraqi assets to
the issue of the trade claims; he had merely sought U.S.
"consideration" of the latter issue.

--------------
IRAN ASKS FOR CONTACTS WITH THE U.S.
--------------


16. (S) While giving few details, the King and Muasher both
noted that the Iranians had expressed to Muasher on his
recent visit that they are serious about wanting a dialogue
with the U.S. on Iraq and counterterrorism.

--------------
ARTICLE 98 AGREEMENT
--------------


17. (C) The King said that he remains committed to
negotiating an Article 98 agreement with the U.S., and said
he had instructed the Jordanian UN PermRep, Prince Zaid bin
Raad, to be flexible in discussions with the U.S. He said he
hoped that the U.S. and Jordan could find mutually acceptable
language in its next negotiating session in January 2004.
FonMin Muasher separately made two points on Article 98: a)
the US formula would exclude the possibility of Jordan taking
to the International Criminal Court an Israeli-American dual
citizen who ordered a transfer of Palestinians from the West
Bank to Jordan. Jordan wanted to have that possibility as a
deterrent. b) 72 countries have signed Article 98 agreements
with the US, but he asserted that only one -- Romania -- is a
signatory of the ICC. Not only is Jordan a signatory, but
Jordan is president of the ICC member states group, and
therefore must proceed cautiously. The language of an
Article 98 agreement with the U.S. needs to take these issues
into account or "Jordan will look like a banana republic."


18. (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered.

Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at

http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/

or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET
home page.
HALE