Dinar Reporter (IQDUSD)

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Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan Interviewed on Prisoner Amnesty, Oil Supplies
Posted on: Sunday, 9 March 2008, 06:00 CDT

Text of report by Jordanian newspaper Al-Dustur on 6 March

[Interview with Sa'd Jasim al-Hayyani, Iraqi ambassador to Jordan, by Umar Maharimah, in Amman; date not given: "Al-Hayyani: Iraqis in Jordan Enjoy Care, Attention on Official and Popular Levels"]

[Maharimah] Reports issued by international organizations spoke about Jordan's abuse of the Iraqis living on its soil. What is the truth of this?

[Al-Hayyani] The Iraqis who come to Jordan are aware of the economic circumstances experienced by Jordan and its suffering from poverty and unemployment. Therefore, the Iraqis living in Jordan are classified into three categories: invertors, those who consider Jordan as a temporary stop to travel to another country, and those who plan to stay in Jordan temporarily in the hope that the security situation in Iraq will improve before their return. The Iraqis travel to Jordan in view of the strong ties and bonds between the Arab people in the two countries.

As for the reports that speak about Jordan's ill-treatment of Iraqis, they lack accuracy and objectivity. The Iraqis receive good treatment on the official and popular levels. Although most of the Iraqis reside illegally in Jordan, the Jordanian authorities do not hold them accountable or expel them. The biggest evidence of this is the issuance of the generous royal decree exempting Iraqis of the illegal residency fines if they leave Jordan, and exempting Iraqis who want to rectify their situation and stay in Jordan of half of these fines, along with giving them the right to stay in Jordan for three months.

At the end of the school year in Jordan, we expect a large number to return to Iraq, in light of the improvement in the security situation. Many families are waiting for their children to finish the school year before they return home. The Iraqis in Jordan enjoy many services, such as health care and education. The Iraqi residents do not face any form of harassment or pursuit, although most of them violate the Residency and Foreigners Law. The [Jordanian] interior minister has recently told me that his ministry is about to announce special instructions that organize the residence of Iraqis in Jordan for those who want to stay and who have decided not to return to their country at present.

[Maharimah] What about the issuance of Iraqi passports from Amman and the implementation of the system requiring Iraqi travellers to Jordan to have entry visas?

[Al-Hayyani] The visas were imposed in order to preserve the dignity and rights of the Iraqis, some of whom may lose their money and time to get to Jordan via the air and land outlets, and the Jordanian authorities then deny them entry for various reasons. In order to preserve the dignity and rights of our citizens, we have asked the Jordanian authorities to require the Iraqis to obtain entry visas before they arrive in Jordan.

The Jordanian authorities have made the necessary arrangements for implementing this. As far as I know, the Jordanian government has reached an agreement with a courier company, which will receive visa applications and send them to Jordan to examine them. There will be three sites for receiving these applications in Baghdad, Arbil and Basra. The truth is that we were not hoping that the entry of Iraqis to the fraternal [Arab] countries would be subject to obtaining an entry visa, but this step was necessitated by the security conditions in Iraq, and we understand the security fears of the neighbouring countries. Concerning the issuance of Iraqi passports, we are waiting for the Iraqi Passport Department to install the system for issuing passports at the embassy this month so as to start issuing passports from Amman directly, without having to send applications to Baghdad, as the case is now.

[Maharimah] It was hoped that the general amnesty in Iraq would include a number of Jordanians, but this did not happen. What is the truth of the situation concerning those detainees?

[Al-Hayyani] The [General Amnesty] Law was issued by the Council of Representatives and it was endorsed by the Presidency Council. It will be published in the Official Gazette soon to pave the way for implementing it. The law is now at the Justice Ministry, which is preparing the lists of those covered [by the law] to present these lists to councils of specialized arbiters to sort out those who are covered. The Jordanian detainees, like others, are covered by this law according to the rules that have been established. We have recently delivered a list containing the names of 15 Jordanian detainees to the Jordanian Government. We hope that they will be released once this law is implemented, each according to his situation, in terms of his sentence, his compliance with the residency conditions, and the mechanism of his entry to Iraq.

[Maharimah] What is the latest on efforts to resolve the outstanding financial issues between Jordan and Iraq?

[Al-Hayyani] This is an important issue. Iraq wants to settle it and close it once and for all to pave the way for restoring economic and trade relations between the countries to their previous level. We believe that the two countries constitute an economic extension and asset for each other. This issue was the focus of many meetings between the officials of the two countries. The Iraqi finance minister has discussed this issue with Jordanian officials in his recent visit to Jordan. Jordan is claiming certain amounts from Iraq for government and private parties. There are frozen Iraqi funds at the Jordanian banks. Some of these funds have been transferred to the Iraqi Fund, which was set up by the United Nations. We are now in the process of auditing and sorting out the Jordanian claims. We hope that this file will be closed soon, especially since Iraq has settled its debts with many countries.

[Maharimah] There has been a lot of delay in supplying Iraqi oil to Jordan and there have been conflicting reports about this. What is the obstacle to the flow of Iraqi oil supplies to Jordan?

[Al-Hayyani] Iraq is committed to the agreement, which stipulates supplying Jordan with oil at a preferential price that is $22 less than the international price. The truth is that security problems have prevented the delivery of this oil in the desired way. However, in light of the improvement in the situation in Iraq, the Iraqi- Jordanian Land Transport Company has signed an agreement with contractors to begin the transportation of oil. I think the only reason that prevents the delivery of oil is the failure of those contractors, since the private sector is transporting large quantities without significant obstacles.

There is a study to revive the project for laying a pipeline to transport oil from the Iraqi area of Hadithah to the Port of Aqaba and the Jordanian petroleum refinery. It is an important project. Once it is executed, it will have positive economic effects on the economy of the two countries. Jordan will benefit from the transit fees and will secure its needs [of oil] under any circumstances. Iraq, which seeks to diversify oil export outlets, will also benefit.

[Maharimah] What about Iraqi investments in Jordan? Do you have rough figures of the size of these investments?

[Al-Hayyani] Iraqi investments in Jordan have a long history. Some Iraqis have projects in Jordan that were set up decades ago. These projects are confined to two important economic fields; namely, industry and real estate. There are other investment activities in the field of hotels and restaurants. A group of Iraqi investors has recently signed agreements for setting up projects worth 100 million dinars in the city of Aqaba.

[Maharimah] What is the latest on the Iraqi national reconciliation plan? What is the role of the Iraqi leaders and figures living in Jordan in this?

[Al-Hayyani] The Arab League is making a valuable effort. Many meetings were held at the Iraqi embassy in Amman at the end of last month. The first meeting included some of the political opposition figures, while the second meeting included tribal leaders. The third meeting was with a number of officers of the former Iraqi army. Ahmad Bin-Hilli, assistant secretary general of the Arab League, listened to their viewpoints on the political process in Iraq in preparation for presenting them to the partners inside and outside Iraq. The arena is open for anyone who expresses his willingness to participate. As an embassy, we represent all spectrums of the Iraqi people, in its parties, ethnicities, and sects. The best evidence of this is our permanent ties and contacts with all sides
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