JORDANIAN BUSINESSMAN RELATES DANGERS OF DOING

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 000695

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2014
TAGS: PREL ECON ETRD IZ JO ELTD KTER
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN BUSINESSMAN RELATES DANGERS OF DOING
BUSINESS IN IRAQ

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires David Hale for Reasons 1.5 (b),(d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) A Jordanian businessman, Dureid Mahasneh (please
protect),told PolOff January 26 of the dangers his
transportation and shipping company has experienced while
operating in Iraq. After paying protection money to keep his
Baghdad warehouse free from attack, the facility was
subsequently burnt down. He claimed the arsonists were
members of the Iraqi "resistance" who targeted the enterprise
for its "collaboration" with the U.S. military. Mahasneh
also negotiated and paid a hefty ransom for the release of a
kidnapped employee in Basra. End Summary.

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UP IN FLAMES
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2. (C) On January 26, PolOff met with Dr. Dureid Mahasneh, a
former Jordanian government official who helped negotiate
Jordan's peace treaty with Israel, and who is now a
businessman. Mahasneh is CEO of Amman-based Middle East
Shipping Services (MESS),which maintains offices in Baghdad,
Basra and Umm Qasr inside Iraq. According to Mahasneh, MESS
provides transportation and shipping services for contractors
within Iraq, most notably Bechtel Corporation.


3. (C) Mahasneh told PolOff that conducting business within
Iraq was a risky affair, and gave two specific examples to
illustrate the dangers his company had faced. First,
Mahasneh said that after renting a warehouse in Baghdad, the
storage facility came under machine gun fire and, later, a
mortar attack when it became known that the warehouse
contained SUVs and other valuable equipment designated for
U.S. contractors. MESS eventually had to pay "protection
money" to a group of Iraqis who accused the company of
collaborating with coalition forces.


4. (C) Despite Mahasneh's providing cash for "protection,"
the MESS warehouse was burned to the ground a little over one
month ago. Since nothing was taken from the building before
it was set ablaze, Mahasneh believes that this was meant as
an act of "resistance" to the U.S. presence in Iraq, rather
than a criminal operation. When PolOff asked Mahasneh if he
had ever approached the CPA for security assistance, he
replied that he had not for fear of confirming accusations
that his company was directly in league with U.S. troops.
Mahasneh eventually leased another warehouse in Baghdad, but
at more than seven times the cost of the former building.
Given the shortage of adequate facilities available in
Baghdad, owners were charging outrageous prices and getting
away with it, according to Mahasneh.

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NEGOTIATING A RANSOM
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5. (C) Moving to his second story, Mahasneh recounted that
last month one of his supervisory employees (a Jordanian) was
kidnapped in Basra and held for ransom. Mahasneh went to
Basra to negotiate the ransom price, which he reduced from an
initial demand of $100,000 to $30,000. After paying this
amount, the employee was freed without harm, but Mahasneh is
wary of the precedent he may have set. He said that he would
not return to Iraq unless he was truly needed, given the
security situation.

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COMMENT
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6. (C) Mahasneh did not try to characterize his experience
in Iraq as typical for companies doing business there, nor
did he have any immediate plans to cease MESS operations in
Iraq. Still, his stories reflect the real risks for
companies seen to be associated with U.S. reconstruction
efforts in Iraq.


7. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.

Visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman or access the site
through the State Department's SIPRNET home page.
HALE