Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - AMMONNEWS - Whistleblower site Wikileaks recently published a secret cable sent from the U.S. Embassy in Amman on January 1st, 2010 informing US secretary that Prime Minister Maarouf Bakhit made an unpublicized trip in 2005 (then he was the King's acting National Security Advisor) carrying a "sober message to Syrian President Bashar Assad."

Bakhit told Assad the Syrian regime had no choice but to cooperate fully with the Mehlis investigation and to carry through full implementation of all relevant Security Council resolutions.

The King, "personally" wanted to know who killed his "friend", Lebanese former prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, the cable said.


Text of the Cable

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2010
TAGS: PREL SY LE JO
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN EMISSARY CARRIES CONFIDENTIAL MESSAGE TO ASAD

REF: AMMAN 9029

Classified By: Ambassador David Hale, Reasons 1.4 (B) & (D)

¶1. (C) As previewed with us (reftel), Maarouf Bakheet )
then the King's acting National Security Advisor, now the
Prime Minister-designate ) made an unpublicized trip to
Damascus during the last week of November to carry a sober
message to President al-Asad. Bakheet briefed G-8/EU
ambassadors gathered for lunch with the King on December 1 on
the trip. He said he told Asad the Syrian regime had no
choice but to cooperate fully with the Mehlis investigation
and to carry through full implementation of all relevant
Security Council resolutions. Jordan's King, he pointedly
said, personally wanted to know who killed his friend, Rafiq
al-Hariri.

¶2. (C) Asad reportedly responded that he wanted to cooperate
fully but needed Jordan's help with the "legal procedures,"
an apparent reference to the then-pending issues related to
Mehlis, access to Syrian officials. Bakheet said he gave
Asad no opening to believe he could offer anything less than
full cooperation, and the secrecy of Bakheet's visit
prevented the Syrians from publicly miscasting the trip as a
sign of Jordanian support for Syria.

HALE