JORDAN'S PLANNED CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFGHANISTAN

S E C R E T AMMAN 000845 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/A, EUR/RPM, AND NEA/ELA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2019 TAGS: MASS MOPS PREL PGOV JO SUBJECT: JORDAN'S PLANNED CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFGHANISTAN REF: STATE 31102 Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (S) Post delivered points in reftel demarche and passed the white paper outlining the results of the Strategic Review to the Foreign Ministry and Royal Court. The GOJ confirmed their previous agreement to provide one infantry battalion (824 personnel) as security for the elections in Afghanistan (reftel). Jordan also has agreed to send Military Police and Combat Engineers. The Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) stipulated that its deployment fall under Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF),not ISAF. Coordination is ongoing between JAF, CENTCOM and Post's Military Assistance Program. Post will look for appropriate opportunities to discuss requests for additional diplomatic support for religious education programs and further contributions from regional allies. (Note: Afghanistan does not have an embassy in Jordan with which Post can coordinate. End note.) ¶2. (S) In addition to the reftel request, Jordan will deploy a Special Operations Forces (SOF) battalion to Afghanistan in May and has maintained a military field hospital in Qalat, Afghanistan since 2003. ¶3. (C) Comment: Additionally, Jordan is also responding helpfully to various other regional contributions to USG initiatives, including: the upgrade and provision of 10 M60A3 tanks to Lebanon by May 2009; the provision of 25 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers to Yemen; and the contribution of personnel for Counter-Piracy missions with NAVCENT CTF 151. It is therefore unlikely Jordan will be able to provide additional financial or personnel contributions to Afghanistan beyond those listed in the above paragraphs. End Comment. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman Beecroft