MONTHLY REPORT--JORDAN BUREAU--DECEMBER 1983

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86-00040R000100220001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 19, 2008
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 2, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2008/03/19: CIA-RDP86-00040R000100220001-0
2 January 1984
MJN 8401
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
THROUGH: Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT: Monthly Report--Jordan Bureau--December 1983
The bombing of the American Embassy in Kuwait kept the
issue of security at the forefront of attention in Amman
again in December. Immediately after the Kuwait bomb attack,
the Jordanian Public Security Forces temporarily reinforced
the guard force around the Embassy, while the Embassy itself
further reinforced its system of physical barriers against a
vehicular bomb.
Two incidents during the month involved Jordan Bureau
directly and served as uncomfortably close reminders of
the need for caution in every aspect of life. In the
early hours of 24 December, editor returned STAT
home from the evening shift and walked into his kitchen to
find a prowler apparently trying to force an entry through
a window. Ostood his ground--frozen to the spot, by STAT
some accounts--and frightened the prowler away. A check
by the police, who were called in immediately, turned up
nothing. The Bureau is looking into installation of window
grills for 0 ground floor apartment. STAT
On 27 December,0 was involved in a second incident STAT
when, toward the end of the evening shift, a telephone
caller to the Bureau said that there was a bomb in the
Embassy due to go off within a few minutes. It was not
clear whether the caller meant the Chancery or the Embassy
Annex, he did not stay on STAT
the line long enough to clarity the point. notified STAT
the Marine Security Guard, had the bomb aler ape transmitted,
and evacuated the building along with the monitor and
teletype operator on duty at the time. The building and
grounds were checked by security personnel, but no bomb
was found.
Finally, reports of the shooting of two low level officials
of the Jordanian embassy in Madrid suggested that Middle
Eastern terrorists might be finding it difficult to get at
more senior personnel and are therefore selecting less well
protected targets instead. The lesson was noted by
Bureau personnel.
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MJN 8401/PAGE. TWO
Monitorial/Editorial
1. On 4 December, Damascus radio reported that Syrian
forces had downed three U.S. fighter planes engaged in a
raid on Syrian positions in Lebanon and that one of the
pilots had been detained. In its 1830 GMT newscast that
evening, Damascus television carried a film clip showing
one of the downed aircraft. According to media. reports,
Syria demands the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Lebanon
as its condition for the captured pilot's release. At the
end of the month, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, contender for
the Democratic presidential nomination, arrived in Syria to
meet with the pilot and to discuss his release with Syrian
officials. Syrian media carried numerous reports on
Jackson's visit and talks with various officials, and on
the evening of the 31st DAmascus television aired a film
report on his meeting with the pilot. Both SANA and the
television quoted the pilot's remarks on the "good treat-
ment" he is receiving at the hands of his Syrian captors.
The Bureau filed several reports and VSL's on the downing
of the aircraft and the Jackson mission to Syria.
2. Reaction to the end of th'e siege of 'Arafat loyalists
in Tripoli with their sea-borne departure, and 'Arafat's
subsequent meeting with Egyptian President Husni Mubarak
made up a large part of the Bureau file during the month.
Predictably, Syrian media have kept up a steady stream of
denunciations and calls for 'Arafat's resignation.
1. Monitor has been accepted for a position STAT
as a political specialist with the Embassy Political Section.
His transfer date is being coordinated between the Embassy
and the Bureau and is expected to be effective in mid-February.
2. Monitor) (resignation became effective STAT
3. A second monitor candidate,) ~be an STAT
processing during December. The first candidate STAT
who began processing toward the end of November, should STAT
De on ~ n n -rcl h-x7 m 4 A - T nuary. We hope to have aboard STAT
before departure. 01P%1
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MJN 8401/PAGE THREE
4. An assistant technician candidate
began processing during December.
on a part-time contract.
STAT
will work STAT
B. Building and Grounds
The Embassy has further reinforced its barriers against
a vehicular bomb attack of the type used in Kuwait and Beirut.
During December a row of "planters," set atop large blocks
of concrete imbedded in the sidewalk, was added to the front
of the Embassy to reinforce the row of concrete-filled
pipes imbedded in the curb last spring, following the Beirut
Embassy attack. The GSO promises geraniums by next spring.
In a less decorative touch, rows of gravel-filled oil drums
were added to the concrete-filled pipes imbedded in the
sidewalks and roadway of the now closed street between the
back of the Embassy Chancery The drums
are all connected to one another and to the pipe barrier
with heavy guage wire rope.
Allocation, 6-9 December, for familiarization.
FBIS Planning Officer for Resource
STAT
STAT
STAT
Chief, Jordan Bureau
ATT: Production Report
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MJN 8401/PAGE THREE
4. An assistant technician candidate
began processing during December.
on a part-time contract.
STAT
will work STAT
B. Building and Grounds
The Embassy has further reinforced its barriers against
a vehicular bomb attack of the type used in Kuwait and Beirut.
During December a row of "planters," set atop large blocks
of concrete imbedded in the sidewalk, was added to the front
of the Embassy to reinforce the row of concrete-filled
pipes imbedded in the curb last spring, following the Beirut
Embassy attack. The GSO promises geraniums by next spring.
In a less decorative touch, rows of gravel-filled oil drums
were added to the concrete-filled pipes imbedded in the
sidewalks and roadway of the now closed street between the
back of the Embassy Chancery The drums
are all connected to one another and to the pipe barrier
with heavy guage wire rope.
Allocation, 6-9 December, for familiarization.
FBIS Planning Officer for Resource
STAT
STAT
STAT
Chief, Jordan Bureau
ATT: Production Report
Approved For Release 2008/03/19: CIA-RDP86-00040R000100220001-0