JORDANIAN MFA PREVIEWS BORDER SECURITY WORKING

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 001057 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/I, S/I E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2018 TAGS: PBTS PINS PREL PTER BA EG IR IZ JO KU SA SY, TU SUBJECT: JORDANIAN MFA PREVIEWS BORDER SECURITY WORKING GROUP POSITION REF: BAGHDAD 1063 Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) POLOFF outlined reftel objectives for the April 13 meeting of the Border Security Working Group (BSWG) in Damascus with Nawaf Tell, the MFA's Negotiations Bureau Director. According to Tell, the GOJ delegation will be headed by Ministry of Interior Secretary General Mukhaimer Abu Jammous and the Public Security Directorate's (Jordan's national police) Director of Preventive Security Muntassar Nuweissi. Tell expressed appreciation for sharing the objectives in advance of the meeting, remarked that they sounded similar to previous BSWG statements, and said he did not sense anything among U.S. objectives which the GOJ would have difficulty supporting. ¶2. (C) The GOJ statement at the working group (which Tell drafted) will reiterate the GOJ's commitment to combating terrorism and upholding previously announced BSWG measures; state that there can be no compromise with terrorism; welcome security improvements in Iraq; and encourage Iraqi national reconciliation. Tell also said the MFA hopes for, but does not expect, better cooperation between the Iraqi, Iranian and Syrian delegations. He noted that the organizers recently added an extra day to the program, which he suspected would be needed for those delegations to work out their differences. HALE