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