AMBASSADOR CRUMPTON'S MEETING WITH PRINCE ALI

S E C R E T AMMAN 001505 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS FOR NEA, INL, PM, AND S/CT E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2015 TAGS: PREL PTER MARR PHUM LE SY JO SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CRUMPTON'S MEETING WITH PRINCE ALI REF: 05 AMMAN 09792 Classified By: AMBASSADOR DAVID HALE FOR REASONS 1.4 (b and d). ¶1. (S/NF) Coordinator for Counterterrorism Ambassador Henry Crumpton met February 28 with Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, one of King Abdullah's closest advisors and his half-brother. Discussions focused on Jordan's Counterrorism (CT) support request (Ref A). Ambassador Crumpton was joined in the meeting by the Ambassador, SIMO chief and Poloff. ¶2. (S/NF) In response to Ambassador Crumpton's questions about Jordan's CT needs, Prince Ali said "We need a lot of help, we've sent you a comprehensive package with our requests and any support we can get is welcome." Prince Ali identified border security assistance and the proposed Crisis Management Center (Ref A) as priorities, and said Jordan needed an internal reorganization of some of its security forces. As an example of current organizational problems, he noted that chemical and biological threats are currently handled by Jordan's intelligence services and that these functions need to be moved to the Civil Defense Directorate. Jordanian CT forces had trained for hotel bomb scenarios prior to the November attacks in Amman, he said, but had the bombings occurred in Petra or at the Dead Sea, the Jordanian security response would have been poor. ¶3. (C) Prince Ali said it wasn,t possible to over-emphasize the importance of the U.S.-Jordan relationship. "We're really on the front line here, and we really need your help; Jordan's only real friend and ally is the U.S." He expressed surprise at the Dubai Ports controversy and hoped for a quick resolution because the issue would surely be spun as one of prejudice against Arabs in the region,s media. Prince Ali added that he felt Jordan was treated unfairly in the State Department,s annual human rights report, saying "We're not the same as Egypt or Syria and we don't like being lumped together in the same category as them." The Ambassador replied that the report is an attempt to describe objectively developments in Jordan as it is in every other country in the world. HALE