MONTHLY REPORT--JORDAN BUREAU--NOVEMBER 1983

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86-00040R000100220002-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 19, 2008
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 4, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2008/03/19: CIA-RDP86-0004OR000100220002-9
4 December 1983
MJN 8329
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
THROUGH: Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT: Monthly Report--Jordan Bureau--November 1983.
I. GENERAL
November was another month of heightened security awareness at
the American Mission in Amman following the discovery of a time
bomb outside the residence of one of the Mission's American staff
on the 10th. Alert neighbors are said to have informed the police
of the suspicious object, and the authorities disarmed the device
before an explosion occurred. While the exact location of the
bomb left some question as to its specific target--if any--the
incident once again undrscored the fact that no one: can afford
to be complacent about security.
On the 12th the Interior Ministry reported the discovery of
another explosive device in the neighborhood of the Third Circle
of Jabal Amman, in the same neighborhood as the American Embassy,
but some distance from it. This device, consisting of 40 kilograms
of TNT attached to a butane gas cylinder and found in a parked
rental car, was also rendered harmless. Jordanian media suggested
that Syria was behind the wave of incidents, while Syrian media
found the efficiency of the Jordanian police too good to be
believed and suggested that the whole thing was a provocation
coooked up by King Husayn and his government.
Meanwhile, the truck-mounted machinegun and crew that stood
guard in the street between the Embassy and the Bureau in September
and disappeared in October reappeared in November, parked at a
more discreet distance.
II. OPERATIONS
Monitorial/Editorial
As a result of events in Syria and Lebanon, the Bureau kept
Damascus radio on open-speaker watch throughout most of November.
Israeli raids on Syrian controlled areas of Lebanon, the Syrian
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downing of an Israeli plane, the Syrian call up of reserves on the
7th, and the fighting in and around Tripoli between 'Arafat loyalists
and Syrian backed dissidents within Fatah added up to an especially
tense month in the Middle East and generated a large volume of
copy. The Syrian call up of reserves, broadcast as a special
message on Damascus radio, once again raised the question of
lateral dissemination of such messages, with the result that
BBC has now been added as a recipient of all special or coded
messages.
Syrian President Al-Asad's illness and admission to a hospital
on the 13th, reportedly with appendicitis, generated many FYI's on
media behavior and noting his absence from various functions. His
absence from public view, in spite of the explanation, prompted
every imaginable rumor on the state of his physical and political
health, including a report that he had died. Al-Asad's public
reappearance on the 27th, carried on Damascus television, was
the occasion for dancing in the streets of the capital and
other manifestations of national rejoicing, according to Syrian
media, as well as the end of two weeks of rumors and speculation.
1. All Bureau foreign national employees were converted to
the new FBN scale effective 27 November. In spite of Embassy
nervousness about the new system during the long lead up to its
implementation, there was no adverse reaction when the effective
date was announced or when the personnel actions making the
conversion were submitted to the Embassy on 20 November.
2. Implementation of the FBN system, which finally resolved
in FBIS' favor the long-disputed question of downgrading certain
Bureau position in accordance with recommendations made by the
Department of State in 1979, also provided the opportunity
granting a long overdue PSI. Communications supervisor
received the PSI due him on 20 March; the personnel
action was made retroactive to that date.
/ STAT
STAT
3. Monitor submitted his letter of resignation
during the month, to eeeeective 24 December. The Bureau was
testing and interviewing applicants throughout November for an
existing vacancy, and one candidate was put into processing.
The Bureau will continue to test and consider applicants to
replaceF____]during December.
STAT
STAT
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IV. VISITS
To the Bureau
1. Regional Engineer 14-17 November, for STAT
a routine inspection of equipment and facilities.
2.1 (head of the Department of Communications
at the University of Delaware, 27 November, for discussions
with the chief monitor on broadcasting in the Middle East.
STAT
STAT
Chief, Jordan Bureau
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MJN 8329
PAGE THREE
IV. VISITS
To the Bureau
1. Regional Engineer 14-17 November, for STAT
a routine inspection of equipment and facilities.
2.1 (head of the Department of Communications
at the University of Delaware, 27 November, for discussions
with the chief monitor on broadcasting in the Middle East.
STAT
STAT
Chief, Jordan Bureau
Approved For Release 2008/03/19: CIA-RDP86-0004OR000100220002-9