Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05AMMAN4657
2005-06-09 14:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

JORDAN: CHARGE REVIEWS BILATERAL ISSUES WITH FM

Tags:  PGOV PREL CASC IZ IS JO NNPT 
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091401Z Jun 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 004657 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL CASC IZ IS JO NNPT
SUBJECT: JORDAN: CHARGE REVIEWS BILATERAL ISSUES WITH FM
QASRAWI

REF: A. AMMAN 4203


B. AMMAN 4075

C. AMMAN 4303

Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 004657

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL CASC IZ IS JO NNPT
SUBJECT: JORDAN: CHARGE REVIEWS BILATERAL ISSUES WITH FM
QASRAWI

REF: A. AMMAN 4203


B. AMMAN 4075

C. AMMAN 4303

Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Charge reviewed a number of bilateral issues with
Foreign Minister Qasrawi during a meeting on June 8. Head of
the Americas Desk Nabih Shuqom and Walid Obeidat from the
FM's private office also attended the meeting. Highlights of
the meeting follow:


2. (C) U.S.-EU Iraq donors conference: Qasrawi confirmed
to Charge that he will attend the conference in Brussels (ref
A). He told Charge he plans to mention Jordan's police
training program for Iraq and announce the assignment of a
Jordanian ambassador to Baghdad. Qasrawi said he has had two
discussions with the King on candidates for the slot, but
acknowledged they are not easy to find.


3. (C) On a related matter, Qasrawi noted that the draft
communique for the Brussels conference refers to the next
donors' conference, which is planned for July in Jordan.
Qasrawi told Charge that there are no plans to postpone the
July donors event, despite rumors to that effect in Amman and
Baghdad. Qasrawi sought assurances (which the Charge
provided) of continued U.S. support for Jordan's hosting of
the event. Qasrawi told Charge that Iraqi Foreign Minister
Zebari recently reaffirmed Iraqi support as well.


4. (C) Proliferation Security Initiative: Ambassador
Shuqom said the MFA was still consulting internally about the
PSI but that "five of seven agencies" had registered
objections to the initiative, including in connection with
concerns about "sovereignty" and the "law of the sea" (refs B
and C). He did not provide details, but Charge offered to
address methodically any specific GOJ concerns. They agreed
to discuss this matter as soon as the GOJ has developed a
response.


5. (C) Consular Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): Qasrawi
confirmed that the GOJ had reached agreement internally on a
MOU text which amends our draft to provide references to
Jordanian law. He said that if we agree with the text, the
next step will be forwarding the draft to the cabinet.
Qasrawi said the Ministry will convey the amended draft to
post by diplomatic note soon.


6. (C) Article 98: Qasrawi reaffirmed that the government,
once confirmed, would submit the Article 98 agreement to
Parliament for ratification. However, because of the
difficult political environment facing the cabinet in the
parliament, he did not expect it to happen until the ordinary
session convenes this fall.


7. (C) Jerusalem: Underscoring Jordan's continued
obligations concerning the Muslim and Christian holy sites in
Jerusalem, Qasrawi said there was a cabinet discussion during
the evening of June 7 about recent Israeli "provocations" at
al-Aqsa mosque. The Jordanians fear that Jewish extremists
might provoke an incident that could damage Jordanian-Israeli
relations. Qasrawi asked for unspecified U.S. assistance in
calming tensions there. In response to Charge's question,
Qasrawi said there is no plan for a Shalom visit to Jordan.


8. (C) UNSC Expansion: Noting the numerous demarches being
delivered to him on this issue, Qasrawi asked for our
position, which Charge provided, with a promise to deliver
more details in the coming days.

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