JORDAN'S KING ABDULLAH VISITS BAGHDAD

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002553

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S KING ABDULLAH VISITS BAGHDAD

Classified By: Political Minister Robert Ford for reasons 1.4(b) and (d
).


1. (C) The long awaited, once postponed, and highly
secretive visit to Baghdad of Jordan's King Abdullah
successfully took place August 12. On the ground for a
relatively short time, Abdullah held a one hour meeting with
PM Maliki (Deputy PM Barham Salih, National Security Advisor
Mowaffaq al-Rubaie and FM Hoshyar Zebari also participating)
and a 15-minute follow-on meeting with Vice President Adel
Abdul Mehdi. The visit marked the culmination of a series of
positive steps both countries have taken over the summer to
warm relations, including PM Maliki's June 12 visit to Amman
and the GOJ's subsequent public announcement naming an
Ambassador to Iraq. The King's visit garnered headlines in
the Iraqi and regional Arab press and appears to have given
renewed impetus to the reopening a Jordanian Embassy in
Baghdad in the coming weeks.


2. (C) Senior MFA contacts told us August 13 that they
expect a second GOJ technical team to come to Baghdad by the
end of the month to make security and logistical preparations
at its proposed IZ embassy site (Note: an initial GOJ
technical team visited Baghdad July 2-3.) The MFA said that,
assuming no unexpected delays occur, they expect a Jordanian
Ambassador to arrive here by late September. While the
reopening of other Arab embassies continues to be stymied by
Iraq's inability to agree internally on naming Iraqi
Ambassadors to those countries, progress on the Jordanian
front, they said, is steadily moving forward.


3. (C) Comment: Jordanian security requirements prevented
PM Maliki and other senior GOI officials from learning of
this visit until shortly before it occurred, and thus
precluded the normal preparations that would surround a head
of state visit. As such, it is difficult to gauge immediately
what its lasting impact will be. However, coming in the wake
of the visits of UAE FM Abdullah bin Zayid and Lebanese
Parliamentary bloc lead Sa'ad Hariri earlier this summer,
King Abdullah's visit provides further evidence -- albeit
only symbolic at this point -- that Iraq's engagement with
its Arab neighbors is gaining some traction. The proof,
however, will be when photo ops turn into concrete acts such
as the reopening of embassies and the reestablishment of the
political, economic, cultural and other activities associated
with "normal" relations. Follow-on to the steps the MFA
expects from the Jordanians would mark the type of real
progress that is needed. We will continue to facilitate
these efforts as we can and look forward to assisting the
Jordanian technical team when it arrives.
CROCKER