TERRORISM FINANCING: OP-ED

UNCLAS AMMAN 009771 SIPDIS FOR EB/EPPD, NEA/PPD, NEA/ELA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTFN KPAO PTER ETTC JO SUBJECT: TERRORISM FINANCING: OP-ED REF: STATE 219945 ¶1. Summary: In response to reftel, post successfully placed A/S Wayne's op-ed with Jordan's two largest circulation Arabic dailies and its most prominent English daily. No media reaction was observed. End summary. ¶2. In response to reftel, Embassy's Public Affairs Section placed A/S Wayne's op-ed, "Disrupting Terrorists' Support - An Ounce of Prevention," with Jordan's two largest circulation Arabic daily newspapers and its most prominent English daily newspaper. The leading, semi-official Arabic daily Al- Rai (circulation 90,000) published the op-ed as written December 15 in its section covering regional and international news. On the same day, the centrist, elite English daily Jordan Times (circulation 10,000) published it on the paper's commentary page. On December 17, the center-left, influential, pro- Palestinian Arabic daily Al-Dustour (circulation 80,000) published the op-ed on a page dedicated to news and commentary usually sourced from international newspapers. Al-Dustour editors removed mention of Israel from the first sentence. ¶3. Post observed no media reaction as a result of the op-ed's publication. ¶4. Comment: Lack of an Arabic version delayed placement until local translation was complete. Post requests timely translation of future op-eds into target languages to ensure we can place op-eds as soon as possible with local Arabic media. End comment. RUBINSTEIN