AMBASSADOR CRUMPTON'S MEETING WITH THE CHIEF OF

S E C R E T AMMAN 001526 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR NEA, INL, PM AND S/CT E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2015 TAGS: PREL PTER IZ SY LE JO SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CRUMPTON'S MEETING WITH THE CHIEF OF JORDAN'S PUBLIC SECURITY DIRECTORATE Classified By: AMBASSADOR DAVID HALE FOR REASONS 1.4 (b and d). ¶1. (C) Coordinator for Counterterrorism Ambassador Henry Crumpton met with Lt. General Mohammad Majid Al-Eitan February 28. Discussions focused on terrorist tactics, border security, and regional security cooperation. Ambassador Crumpton was joined in the meeting by the Ambassador, A/RSO, and Poloff. ¶2. (S) General Eitan reviewed the long history of terrorism in Jordan, noting that Jordanians weren't the problem - terrorists came from our "noisy neighbors" Iraq and Syria. Eitan speculated that Jordan might soon see a change in terrorists, strategy. There were four main types of terrorist operations being used in Iraq -- car bombs, suicide belts, kidnappings, and assassinations; he thought the latter two could be coming soon to Jordan. Jordan had seen suicide belts used in Amman for the hotel bombings in November, and had taken precautions. It had become increasingly difficult for terrorists to use car bombs in Jordan, he said, "so I think its possible that we could see assassination attacks, similar to the assassination of Lawrence Foley, in Jordan." (Note: Followers of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi shot dead USAID officer Lawrence Foley in 2002 in Amman. End note.) Eitan said that Zarqawi's popularity in Jordan had suffered as a result of the November hotel bombings, and that the terrorists needed to "repair their image" in Jordan with attacks narrowly focused on U.S. or Israeli targets. ¶3. (C) Eitan noted difficulties in controlling Jordan's frontiers with Iraq and Syria; drugs and personnel can easily cross them. The Syrian government was not assisting in the smuggling of foreign fighters over its borders, he believed, but it wasn't doing enough to prevent it. Eitan did not trust the Syrian government because he was not sure if it was helping or fighting terrorist groups. Responding to Ambassador Crumpton's query about Jordan's CT needs, Eitan said his forces lacked x-ray equipment, explosive-detective dogs, and modern night-vision equipment. ¶4. (C) Eitan said that King Abdallah wanted to strengthen Jordan's relationship with Lebanese police forces, and that Jordan was planning to send an assessment team to Lebanon to assess Lebanese CT strengths and weaknesses. Ambassador Crumpton replied that the U.S. was also sending an assessment team to Lebanon, and that the findings of the teams should be coordinated so that a CT training package could be designed for Lebanese CT forces. Eitan mentioned he would like to arrange a summit for police forces from the region, and suggested senior-level annual meetings and executive-level bi-annual meetings for regional police leaders from Lebanon, Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, and other regional players. Eitan said that regional cooperation is critical, and that Jordan wanted to play a leadership role in the region by hosting CT training and security-related coordination meetings. ¶5. (U) Ambassador Crumpton did not have the opportunity to clear this message. HALE