PARLIAMENT MOVES TOWARD RATIFICATION OF ARTICLE 98

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 009514 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL JO KICC SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT MOVES TOWARD RATIFICATION OF ARTICLE 98 AGREEMENT REF: A. AMMAN 6148 ¶B. AMMAN 5994 ¶C. AMMAN 5624 Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) Jordan's Chamber of Deputies referred the U.S.-Jordan Article 98 agreement to its legal committee on December 7 for a formal recommendation. The lower house of parliament had earlier rejected the agreement during its summer extraordinary session (Ref C),although the Jordanian Senate endorsed the agreement by a unanimous vote (Ref A) on July 31. Press reports state that the agreement is one of 17 items placed for priority consideration on parliament's agenda. Also on December 7, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued a joint public statement calling on MPs to reject the agreement, stating that, "Jordan's parliament should firmly reject this strong-arm attempt by the United States to exempt its own citizens from international law." ¶2. (C) Newly appointed Prime Minister Bakhit has assured Ambassador that his government will strongly back the Article 98 agreement in parliament, and that he expects ratification by the Chamber of Deputies in mid-January. Sources in parliament report that the legal committee will almost certainly issue a positive recommendation. Several MPs who previously voted against the agreement have told poloff they now plan to cast an affirmative vote. Some vocal opposition remains, however. Influential MP Abdul Karim Dughmi (East Banker, Mafraq) has called on his colleagues to reject the agreement, stating (erroneously) that "it contradicts Jordan's membership in the United Nations and its membership in the ICC." ¶3. (C) COMMENT: Post is optimistic that parliament will ratify the Article 98 agreement when it reaches a vote in the Chamber of Deputies. The poor planning and lack of information on the part of the GOJ that contributed to its defeat in the summer (Ref B) will not be repeated this time around. While we hope a vote on the agreement is taken in January 2006, other parliamentary priorities - such as a vote of confidence in the new government and review of the government's budget - combined with the Eid holiday in January, could push the issue into February. END COMMENT. HALE