JORDANIAN FM TO ATTEND FORUM FOR THE FUTURE

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002812 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA AND NEA/PI E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2018 TAGS: PREL ECON KMPI JO SUBJECT: JORDANIAN FM TO ATTEND FORUM FOR THE FUTURE REF: PATTON-BEECROFT EMAIL OF OCTOBER 6 2008 Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (C) PolOff on October 8 delivered the draft "Partnership Between G8, BMENA Governments and Civil Society" document (ref) to Ambassador Mohammad Shahankari, Director of the Negotiations Coordination Bureau in the MFA, and GOJ point person on the Forum for the Future. Shahankari made a quick side-by-side comparison of the new version with his own marked-up draft containing Jordan's earlier proposed amendments. He observed that it did not appear that Jordan's comments had been directly incorporated - mainly ones that emphasized that the principles should be applied in a way consistent with national laws and the approval of host governments. PolOff noted that the text was a compromise document, intended to protect the core values of freedom of association. While not committing Jordan to support the latest version, and saying he would examine the issue more closely, Shahankari offered that "generally we'll have no problem with it." Ambassador will follow up on the matter with Foreign Minister Salah Al-Bashir. ¶2. (SBU) Shahankari confirmed that that Bashir, along with his special advisor, Ambassador Nabih Shuqom, would attend the upcoming Forum for the Future meeting in Abu Dhabi. Biographical Note on Shahankari -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Shahankari, who volunteered that he was Circassian, took his present position in July 2008, replacing Nawaf Tel (who continues to work with the Bureau in an advisory capacity from his perch as director of the Center For Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan). Before that he was Ambassador in Switzerland for five years; and before that he was Ambassador in Sudan. Previously he worked on the multilateral Arab-Israeli peace process. He served in Germany during reunification, in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, and before that in Yemen. In 1981 he was posted in New York at Jordan's Permanent Mission to the United Nations. His English is excellent. Shahankari smokes cigarettes. End Bio Note. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman Beecroft