Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04AMMAN831
2004-02-03 15:44:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

UPDATE ON IRAQ-RELATED EVENTS IN JORDAN

Tags:  ASEC AMGT CVIS EAID MASS JO IZ 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000831 

SIPDIS

IRAQ SUPPORT UNIT ROUND UP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC AMGT CVIS EAID MASS JO IZ
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON IRAQ-RELATED EVENTS IN JORDAN


Iraqi Military Training Update
------------------------------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000831

SIPDIS

IRAQ SUPPORT UNIT ROUND UP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC AMGT CVIS EAID MASS JO IZ
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON IRAQ-RELATED EVENTS IN JORDAN


Iraqi Military Training Update
--------------

1. Over 500 Iraqi officer candidates continue to train under
Jordanian instruction. Additionally several senior officers and
pilots are being trained by the Jordanians. This training is
being conducted at several Jordanian bases in Zarqa, Madaba, and
Mafraq. The candidates at Zarqa have moved into their recently
constructed quarters. The Jordanian military has been most
cooperative. CMATT (Coalition Military Assistance Training Team)
liaison team co-located with the Embassy's Iraq Support Unit
(ISU) is working with Jordanian military and Iraqi recruits, and
responsible for overall program oversight and execution, to
include contract compliance, performance of Iraqi recruits, and
interaction with Jordanian Armed Forces.

Iraqi Interim Travel Documents
--------------

2. Iraqi Consul in Amman told PolOff on January 14 that his
consular staff had received authority to start extending Iraqi
passports, issuing Interim Travel Documents (ITDs) and performing
notary services. He said that at present, only the U.S., U.K.,
India, Egypt and Jordan, are accepting the ITD as an official
travel document. He urged the U.S. government to assist in
convincing more countries to accept the ITD as a substitute for
an Iraqi passport. The Consul added that Iraqis in Jordan
continually ask his staff when the Embassy will be authorized to
issue new Iraqi passports.


Humanitarian Assistance
--------------

3. The Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center (HACC),
Jordan, is coordinating several HA projects. They include
soliciting donations for sports equipment for the establishment
of a sports program for Iraqi youths in the Ar Ramadi area of
western Iraq; coordinating with local business groups and the
82nd Airborne Division for the delivery of medical supplies to
western Iraq; and coordinating security for a Jordanian convoy
providing food and medical supplies to their field hospital in
Fallujah, Iraq.

Outreach 2004
--------------

4. The Outreach 2004 trade exhibition and workshop took place in
Amman Jan 10 - 13 and was attended by several high ranking U.S.,

CPA and Jordanian officials. More than 300 companies from 21
nations participated or sent representatives, including companies
from Iraq, the U.S., Europe, southeast Asia, the Middle East and
elsewhere; companies from Syria and Iran also participated. There
were national pavilions from the Netherlands, Italy, Saudi
Arabia, Poland, Switzerland, Egypt, Turkey and Australia. Other
exhibiters came from South Africa, Kuwait, the United Arab
Emirates, France, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Romania, Hungary,
Spain, and India. The workshop portion drew an overflow audience
of more than 1200 delegates among whom more than 300 Iraqi
entrepreneurs were registered to participate. The Keynote speaker
was (RAdm, ret.) David Nash, director of the Project Management
Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Other speakers
included U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce, William Lash, III,
Ms. April Foley, vice president of the Export-Import Bank,
Washington, D.C. Ross Connelly, Executive Vice President of the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and Col. Tony Bell,
Contracting Officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Leading experts from the PMO, government agencies, and the
private sector joined in the program. Acting Jordanian Prime
Minister Mohammad Halaiqa, the Ambassador, and Assistant
Secretary Lash attended the opening ceremony. The U.S. Based

SIPDIS
Kallman Group, LLC, organized the Department of Commerce
Certified conference in association with JABA, the Jordan-
American Business Association.

World Bank to Set Up Iraq Office in Amman
--------------

5. World Bank representatives conducted a workshop with
representatives of the CPA Center for International Cooperation
(CIC) and of Iraq's Planning, Finance, Electricity, Trade, and
Transport Ministries on Jan. 19-20. World Bank reps later met
separately with CPA advisors to and Iraqi officials from the
Ministry of Health. The World Bank Board of Directors will
review the World Bank team's strategic plan for Iraq
reconstruction assistance by Feb. 1. The World Bank has made
arrangements to open an office in Amman to serve as an interim
base for its operations in Iraq. The office is planned to open
Feb. 9 and to be staffed by four employees detailed from the
Washington office and six Iraqis.

Japanese Aid to Iraq--Using Jordan as a Base?
-------------- --

6. Japanese diplomats in Amman have been tasked to find worthy
Iraqi projects, as the Japanese government prepares to spend $1.5
billion on Iraq reconstruction. Over the past two weeks,
Japanese diplomats have approached the Jordanian Ministry of
Planning, as well as representatives of the Iraqi Ministries of
Trade and Health who were in Amman attending meetings with the
World Bank. They are focused on funding Jordan-based capacity
building and training programs for Iraqis, but groups of Iraqis
expressed a preference for Iraq-based programming.

Agriculture Events in Amman
--------------

7. On Feb. 29, the U.S. Grain Council will host Iraqi and
Jordanian businessmen and Ministry of Agriculture personnel in a
Corn Co-Products Seminar. On March 5-7, the American Soybean
Association will host Iraqi businessmen and Ministry of
Agriculture personnel in a Feed Formulation Training Course. On
March 27-28, the "League of Businessmen in Iraq" will sponsor a
general Iraq reconstruction conference focused on the Arab
private sector, which it is calling the "Arab Businessmen and
International Private Sector Conference for Rebuilding Iraq."
The Citizens' Network for Political Action is in the planning
stages of organizing a conference focusing on Iraq's agribusiness
sector, tentatively planned for late February-early March.