PENDING JORDANIAN REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 009151

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/15/2014
TAGS: PREL MASS EAID EFIN IZ JO
SUBJECT: PENDING JORDANIAN REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE

REF: A. AMMAN 9150 (EXDIS)

B. AMMAN 5467 (EXDIS)

C. USDAO AMMAN JO 5645

D. AMMAN 8107

E. TOKYO 6379

F. AMMAN 7403

Classified By: A/DCM Christopher Henzel, reasons 1.4 (b and D)


1. ( U ) With King Abdullah likely to visit Washington on
or about December 6, we provide below post,s understanding
of the state of play of a number of Jordanian assistance
requests, some of which have been on the table for more than
a year. Ref A was post,s scene-setter for this visit.

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Requests for U.S. assistance: Military
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2. ( C ) FMF levels: In recent conversations with Charge
and visiting congressional delegations, King Abdullah has
argued that Jordan, while appreciative of the FMF plus-ups
provided in recent years, needs a commitment from the
administration and Congress for sustained, higher levels of
military aid over a five-year period. Jordan,s &normal8
FMF levels over the past ten years have increased from $9
million in 1994 to $204 million in 2004. In 2003 Jordan
received additional FMF of $406 million on top of a baseline
FMF funding of nearly $200 million.


3. ( C ) FMF &supplemental8: Over the past 12 months,
Jordan has made requests for $400 million to cover military
priorities that include border security, communications, and
transportation. The GOJ has linked this request to Jordan,s
support for the global war on terrorism and for the effort in
Iraq.


4. ( C ) KASOTC: The King Abdullah Special Operations
Training Center is a project the King (formerly chief of
Jordan,s special forces) hopes to fund out of a mixture of
&normal8 and supplemental FMF. The total cost is estimated
at $100 million. Jordan has budgetted funding for the
project at $10 million annually from Jordan,s &normal8 FMF
in each of the four fiscal years 2003 ) 2006. The GOJ hopes
to obtain out of a supplemental the remaining $60 million
needed for completion.


5. ( C ) Coalition Support Funds (CSF): CSF is a fund
appropriated to the Pentagon to help cover the costs incurred
by allies supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. These are
not/not FMF funds. Jordan has to date received over $93
million in CSF reimbursements in support of U.S. military
operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Jordan has claimed an
additional $114 million. Post recommended in July 2004 (refs
B and C) that the USG agree to pay, out of CSF, nearly $13
million of these remaining claims. Post recommended that
about $10 million in claims be disallowed. Post recommended
that $91 million of Jordan,s other requests for CSF
reimbursement be addressed with sustained levels of new FMF,
since the claims represent ongoing, increased border security
costs.

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Request for U.S. assistance: Economic
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6. ( C ) Jordan has received ESF over the past four years at
&normal8 levels of about $250 million annually. In FY 2003
and FY 2004, Jordan received in addition $700 million.
Jordan has made a formal request for increased direct ESF of
$300 million for FY 2005.

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Requests for Iraq-related aid for Jordan
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7. ( C ) In ref D, post explained Jordan,s September, 2004
proposal to support Iraqi reconstruction by funding, partly
out of IRRF funds, 1) improved border crossing facilities at
the Jordanian/Iraqi frontier, 2) improved highways between
the frontier and Aqaba, and 3) improved port facilities at
Aqaba (which we estimate is handling about 40 percent of all
goods entering Iraq.) Jordanian planning minister Awadhallah
and Iraqi planning minister Hafedh raised the proposal with
Deputy Secretary Armitage October 13 in Tokyo. The Deputy
Secretary indicated that the United States would not be able

SIPDIS
to use already-approved Iraq supplemental funds to pay for
such projects on the Jordanian side of the border (ref E.)
If King Abdullah pursues this idea further, he is likely to
focus on the border crossing facility portion of the
proposal, since it would be located on both Iraqi and
Jordanian territory.

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Requests for Paris Club consideration
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8. ( C ) Jordan has proposed (ref F and previous) that the
Paris Club grant it permission to raise, from 30 percent to
50 percent, the ceiling on the portion of Jordanian official
debt with which the GOJ may carry out debt swaps. In
addition, Jordan seeks debt forgiveness in the Paris Club
with the proviso that Jordan would, in turn, forgive a
corresponding amount of the official Iraqi debt it holds.
The USG has replied that it cannot support this second
proposal, in part because it would set off requests for
similar treatment from Iraq,s other creditors.


9. ( U ) Baghdad minimize considered.
HALE