IRAQ MISSION IN AMMAN ALLEGES IRAQ-JORDAN BORDER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003677

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2014
TAGS: PREL PHUM IZ JO
SUBJECT: IRAQ MISSION IN AMMAN ALLEGES IRAQ-JORDAN BORDER
BRIBERY AND SALE OF FALSE IRAQI ID DOCUMENTS IN AMMAN


Classified By: DCM David Hale for reasons 1.5 (b),(d)

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Summary
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1. (C) The Iraq Mission in Amman alleges that Iraqi border
police at the border between Iraq and Jordan are actively
soliciting bribes before allowing Iraqis to pass to the
Jordanian side. Iraqi border police in many cases are
letting Iraqis pass without verifying the existence or
authenticity of travel documents. The Iraq Mission believes
that the majority of Iraqis entering Iraq from Jordan are
doing so for criminal, not repatriation, purposes, and Iraqis
are actively purchasing fraudulent identity documents in
Jordan in order to obtain Interim Travel Documents (ITD) for
travel to Iraq. We report these views without assessing
their validity. End Summary.

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Border Bribery and Lax Security Measures
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2. (C) Ma'an Barakat, Charge at the Iraq Mission to Jordan,
told PolOff on May 6 that many Iraqis have come to the
Embassy complaining that they were forced by Iraqi border
police at the Karama border to pay a bribe in order to cross
into Jordan. Ahmad Jirallah, Iraq Mission Consul, said that
many Iraqis have come to the Mission to get an ITD after
having crossed into Jordan without any travel documents or in
possession of those of questionable authenticity.

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Iraqis in Jordan Won't Return Until Security Improves
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3. (C) Barakat and Jirallah said that the current security
situation is the most important issue in Iraq. Educated
Iraqis in Jordan will not return until they believe that
security is better, backed by an Iraqi government and Iraqi
security personnel. The vast majority of Iraqis who have
appeared at the Embassy to apply for ITDs so far are
uneducated and unskilled. Jirallah believes that most Iraqis
are returning due to lack of job opportunities in Jordan and
for the purposes of criminal activity, such as kidnapping and
smuggling. He revealed that a group of Iraqis kidnapped the
eight year-old son of a former Iraq Mission telephone
operator, Jihad Shaker, just inside the Iraq border on April
10, and the boy is still being held captive as Shaker cannot
pay the demanded 20,000 USD ransom. Jirallah alleged that
this is just one example of many recent kidnapping cases, and
he fears for his family's safety in returning to Iraq upon
completion of his tour in Amman in three months.

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ITDs and Undocumented Iraqis in Jordan
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4. (C) To date, Jirallah has issued a total of 550 ITDs to
Iraqis in Jordan. He asserted that many Iraqis come to the
Mission for ITDs without any identity documents. Jirallah
claimed that fraudulent Iraqi identity documents are easy to
obtain in the downtown Amman area. In one recent case he
cited, a man returned to the Mission with a fraudulent Iraqi
birth certificate one day after being told by Jirallah that
he could not receive an ITD without proof of identity. When
confronted by Jirallah, the man admitted to purchasing the
certificate in downtown Amman for 500 USD.


5. (C) There is a strong perception among our contacts that
bribery on the Iraqi side of the border and purchasing of
fraudulent Iraqi documents is widespread. A U.S. NCO who is
a liaison at the Karama border crossing told PolOff that an
Iraqi policeman was fired last Wednesday after he demanded
and received a cellular phone as a bribe. According to the
NCO, Iraqi police solicitation of bribes at the border is
very common and occurs any time Coalition forces are not
directly observing them. One Iraq border police unit has,
reportedly, not been paid in two months. This may be a
contributing factor to the bribe demands. Additionally, the
NCO asserted that Jordanian border officials turn back the
vast majority of Iraqis trying to cross into Jordan due to
lack of or questions about travel documents.

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Comment
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6. (C) We have no way to verify some of the assertions coming
from the Iraqi Mission, such as travel of Iraqis to conduct
kidnappings. That said, our U.S. military contacts tend to
confirm that corruption among Iraqi border officials appears
to be on the rise.


7. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.

Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/

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GNEHM