JORDANIAN HORSETRADING DELAYS DECISION ON SUPPORT

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 001486 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PRM, IO/UNP, AND NEA/ELA E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2018 TAGS: PREF PREL SMIG IOM ICJ JO SUBJECT: JORDANIAN HORSETRADING DELAYS DECISION ON SUPPORT FOR SWING IOM CANDIDACY REF: A. STATE 19491 ¶B. AMMAN 682 Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) PolCouns revisited the subject of Ambassador Swing's candidacy for IOM Director General May 14 with Jamal Al-Shamayleh, Director of the Foreign Minister's private office. Shamayleh, consulting on the spot with the head of the MFA's Bureau of International Organization Affairs, assured PolCouns that Jordan would not support outgoing DG McKinley. He stopped short of committing to Jordan's voting for Swing, however. Shamayleh said that the GOJ's position on Swing is tied to ongoing deliberations between the MFA's Human Rights division, legal department, and IO Bureau regarding efforts - including horse-trading with other concerned nations (NFI) - to secure re-election in November to the International Court of Justice for Jordanian Justice Awn Khasawneh. ¶2. (C) PolOff followed up on May 14 with Hussam Al-Husseini, Deputy Director of the IO Bureau, to press the issue and advocate for a decision. Husseini confirmed that Jordan would not support McKinley, and said a decision on Swing would be made by the end of May. Noting that "such decisions typically come at the very last minute," he attributed the delay to the considerable ongoing internal back-and-forth regarding the best way to secure the Jordanian ICJ candidacy.nd-forth regarding the best way to secure the Jordanian ICJ candidacy. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ HALE