JORDAN TO NAME RETIRED GENERAL MUHAMMAD AL-ALLAF

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002615 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2017 TAGS: PINR JO SUBJECT: JORDAN TO NAME RETIRED GENERAL MUHAMMAD AL-ALLAF AS ITS NEW U.N. PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C/NF) Foreign Minister Khatib informed Ambassador in confidence on June 17 that retired Major General Muhammad al-Allaf will be named Jordan's new Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. This appointment has not been made public; please protect accordingly. ¶2. (C/NF) Allaf is well-known to Ambassador and emboffs from his tenure as Commandant of Jordan's National Defense College and his work on Jordan's Strategic Defense Review, as well as his time leading Jordan's DMI. Allaf is an intelligent and engaging interlocutor, and will prove to be a reliable conveyor of GoJ positions in New York. ¶3. (SBU) Biographic information follows: (SBU) Muhammad Fahd AL-ALLAF is a Jordanian Muslim and was born on November 26, 1950. He is married to Hana Awad, born in 1961 in Amman. He has three sons: Fahd (1978); Islam (1985-born in the United States); and Bader (1987); and two daughters: Salem (1980) and Al'a (1983). (SBU) EDUCATION: 1980 - U.S. Infantry School, Ft. Benning, GA. 1983 - Mu'tah University, Jordan, Bachelor's Degree in Military Science. 1984-85 - U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS. 1997 - Mu'tah University, Jordan; Master's Degree in Management and Military Science. 2001 - National Defense University, Washington D.C.; Master's Degree in National Security Strategy. (C/NF) CAREER: During the first half of 1999, MG Allaf concurrently held the positions of acting director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence and director of the U.S. Cooperative Defense Initiative and Consequence Management. He was significantly more supportive of the U.S.-Jordan intelligence exchange relationship than his predecessors. Under his tenure there was a notable increase in the quality and quantity of intelligence provided to the United States. MG Allaf oversaw Jordan's strategic defense review from 2004 to 2006 while Commandant of the Royal Jordanian National Defense College. (SBU) MG Allaf retired on April 30, 2007 after serving most recently as Director of Strategic Planning. (C/NF) According to DATT reporting, Allaf is committed to building a lasting peace with Israel, but not at the expense of Jordanian ties with Arab states. Allaf is well liked by his U.S. military counterparts. He is described as highly intellectual, engaging and humble with a good sense of humor. He speaks excellent English. (SBU) CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: 1970 - Commissioned in the Jordan Armed Forces. 1980 - Operations Officer, Hussein Brigade (Royal Guards). 1982 - Psychological Warfare Course, "Fu Shin Kung", Taiwan. 1989-1991 - Deputy Operations Officer, UN Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM). 1991-93 - Chief of Staff, mechanized infantry brigade. 1993-95 - Operations Officer, 12th Mechanized Infantry Division. 1996 - Royal Jordanian War College Course. 1996-97 - Staff officer, Directorate of Office Affairs. 1997-98 - Chief of Information Department, Directorate of Military Intelligence. 1999 - Acting Director, Directorate of Military Intelligence (January). 1999 - Director of Planning and Organization (July). 2001 - Chief of the Directing Staff, Royal Jordanian War College. 2002 - Commandant, Royal Jordanian War College. 2003 - Commandant, Royal Jordanian National Defense College. 2006 - Director of Strategic Planning, Assistant Chief of Staff for Planning 2007 - Retired on April 30 Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ Hale