U.S. AND RUSSIAN AMBASSADORS DELIVER GLOBAL

UNCLAS AMMAN 001613 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KGIC PTER KNNP JO SUBJECT: U.S. AND RUSSIAN AMBASSADORS DELIVER GLOBAL INITIATIVE DEMARCHE TO JORDAN REF: STATE 52330 ¶1. (SBU) Ambassador Hale and Russian Ambassador Alexander Kalugin jointly delivered reftel demarche to Foreign Minister Salaheddin al-Bashir on May 27. Bashir said he was unaware of the reasons behind Jordan's earlier decision not to endorse the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. Kalugin mentioned that there had been reservations regarding the definition of terrorism, but denied that that was sufficient justification to object to combating nuclear terrorism, since it was not the sort of thing that groups with "legitimate" interests would engage in. ¶2. (U) Bashir did not offer a substantive response to the demarche. Post requests provision of the sample letter of endorsement mentioned in reftel, after which we will follow up with the Foreign Ministry. Bashir also asked about the kind of expected participation in the June meeting; please advise as to the level of U.S. participation. Hale