BLUE LANTERN: DISCUSSIONS WITH EMBASSY AND

UNCLAS STATE 059042 SENSITIVE SIPDIS AMMAN FOR DEBORAH WINTERS ECON AMMAN FOR ALICA LEJLIC POL-MIL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC KOMC OTRA PARM PREL JO SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN: DISCUSSIONS WITH EMBASSY AND JORDANIAN OFFICIALS FEBRUARY 28 REF: 07 AMMAN 4525 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Compliance Specialist Judd Stitziel from the Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance (PM/DTCC) met February 27-28 with country team and Jordanian officials to discuss implementation of the Blue Lantern end-use monitoring program and other defense trade issues in Jordan. The visit included very productive meetings with senior Jordanian Armed Forces officers responsible for strategic planning and procurement and with the chairman of the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau. PM/DTCC has conveyed to ISN/ECC the keen interest the Jordanians expressed in receiving US assistance in developing all aspects of Jordan,s nascent export control laws. The visit helped to inform and improve communication about Blue Lantern and gray arms trafficking while solidifying host government understanding of and support for the program. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Administered by PM/DDTC's Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance (PM/DTCC),Blue Lantern is a global program designed to verify the end-use, end-users, and disposition of commercially exported defense articles, technology, and services. This visit to Jordan was part of PM/DTCC's ongoing efforts to improve the effectiveness of Blue Lantern through outreach visits with posts and host governments. JORDANIAN ARMED FORCES ON BOARD WITH BLUE LANTERN ¶3. (SBU) Stitziel and Embassy officials met with the Director of Strategic Planning, Brigadier General Mohammad Farghal, and the head of the Procurement Department at the Jordanian Armed Force's General Headquarters to discuss the Blue Lantern program on February 28. Accompanying Stitziel from the Embassy were Economic Officer Deborah Winters, Political-Military Officer Alica Lejlic, and Security Assistance Officer Major Perry Orr. While BG Farghal and his colleague were familiar with Blue Lantern and had responded to inquiries in the past, they were unaware of the program's global scope and were grateful for the formal briefing. Discussion focused on how to make end-use checks as accurate, smooth, and efficient as possible. ¶4. (SBU) Upon request, BG Farghal described the JAF's procurement policies and procedures. JAF general policy is to avoid middlemen and buy US-origin defense articles and services directly from U.S. suppliers whenever possible. Procurement is now either via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program or direct commercial contract based on sole source suppliers. BG Farghal's Strategic Planning office is responsible for "big picture" planning and policy decisions, while the JAF's Procurement Department executes the actual purchases and is the sole entity within the JAF that issues end-use certificates. The only other Jordanian military entity authorized to issue end-use certificates is the Military Office of His Majesty the King (MOHM). (COMMENT: The conversation revealed indications of possible conflicts, poor communication, competition, and tension between the JAF and MOHM concerning military procurement and possibly other areas. As established through past Blue Lantern checks, the Director of Armory, Procurement and Special Projects at MOHM is Major Ghazi Daghistani, who is a first cousin of the King and appears to have authority to make significant military procurements and to operate independently of the JAF. END COMMENT.) BG Farghal took the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the amount of time required by the USG for third-party transfer requests and the export of night vision devices (NVDs). The very cordial meeting closed with both sides agreeing on the value of continuing to strengthen bilateral cooperation and communication through the Blue Lantern program. KING ABDULLAH II DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT BUREAU ¶5. (SBU) Stitziel and Embassy officials met with top officials of the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB),a state-owned military-civilian agency within the JAF that designs and manufactures military and commercial equipment and provides services for the JAF as well as the civilian and military export markets. KADDB officials included Dr. Moayad Samman, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Ibrahim M. Mhailan, Contracts Advisor. USG participants included Col. Robert Faille, Defense Attache; Lt. Col. David Womack, MILGRP; Orr; Lejlic; and Winters. After the Blue Lantern briefing, Dr. Samman gave an overview of KADDB's structure, activities, procurement policies and procedures, and future plans. Only KADDB's contracts office is authorized to generate end-use certificates, which can be signed only by KADDB's director. Samman emphasized that Jordan does not permit the transshipment of defense articles through Jordanian territory. In addition to its own R&D and manufacturing activities, KADDB currently is invested to various extents in 23 Jordanian companies. Finally, Samman inquired about the possibility of Jordan and KADDB receiving US assistance in all aspects of export controls, particularly those related to Jordan's current efforts to draft export control laws. Stitziel briefly described the Department's Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance program (EXBS) and offered to connect Samman with the appropriate officials in the Department's Office of Export Control Cooperation (ISN/ECC). Samman expressed gratitude and enthusiasm about the possible assistance available through EXBS. Upon returning to Washington, Stitziel informed the director of ISN/ECC of the GOJ's and KADDB's interest. BLUE LANTERN FOLLOW-UP: LE ROYAL HOTEL ¶6. (U) Stitziel and Winters met with Suliman Aqarbeh, Security Director of Le Royal Hotel as follow-up to a pre-license Blue Lantern check conducted on application 050070921 for the export of explosives detection equipment in November 2007 (reftel). The check had verified the bona fides of the hotel as an end-user of United States Munitions List (USML) items and confirmed the legitimacy of the end-use, which was to scan vehicles to be parked in the hotel's underground garage. Stitziel briefed Aqarbeh on Blue Lantern and asked him for feedback on his experience as the subject of an end-use check. Most interesting were Aqarbeh's remarks that such checks send end-users a strong message about the quality and sensitivity of the commodities and the seriousness with which the U.S. treats the export of such items. Aqarbeh commented that the Blue Lantern check not only reinforced his belief that he had made the right decision to buy the US-origin explosive detection equipment; together with the equipment's performance, the check had led him to recommend the technology to colleagues at other hotels and the Jordanian police. The meeting with Aqarbeh thus provided additional evidence that the Blue Lantern program helps to promote due diligence and compliance with US export controls by industry and end-users, and can even enhance perceptions of the quality and value of USML items. INTERNAL BLUE LANTERN BRIEFINGS WITH EMBASSY PERSONNEL ¶7. (SBU) Stitziel briefed the Blue Lantern program to members of the country team, including Fareedon Hartoqa, Commercial Specialist, US Commercial Service; a member of the Military Group; the Assistant Legal Attache; Natalie Brown, Economic Counselor; Winters; and Lejlic. The Economic and Political-Military Sections split responsibility for coordinating Blue Lantern checks in Jordan. The number of checks in Jordan has increased in recent years, and the program is anticipated to continue to grow as bilateral defense trade and the volume of direct commercial sales (DCS) increase. Participants discussed strategies for addressing specific past challenges of the program in Jordan, including finding the right GOJ point-of-contact and sometimes lengthy delays in responding to Blue Lantern requests. ¶8. (U) PM/DDTC would like to express its gratitude to Embassy Amman, and especially Economic Officer Deborah Winters and Political-Military Officer Alica Lejlic for their exemplary work in helping to arrange and execute this visit. RICE