US embassy cable - 03AMMAN8196

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 008196 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: SADDAM'S ARREST: MOST JORDANIANS SUBDUED; 
JORDAN-BASED IRAQIS THRILLED;  PRESS OUTRAGED AT LACK OF A 
FIGHT 
 
 
Classified By: DCM David Hale for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) The reactions of Jordanians and Jordan-based Iraqis to 
Saddam's arrest varied from sadness at seeing a once powerful 
Arab leader in such a sorry state, to ridicule for his lack 
of personal resistance to arrest, to hope that an obstacle to 
restoring Iraqi security and self-governance has been 
removed.  The GOJ spokesperson hoped the arrest would turn a 
page on Iraq's history and speed stability and transfer of 
authority to Iraqis.  In contrast, an Islamic Action Front MP 
expressed support for Saddam as "a symbol of defiance."  End 
Summary. 
 
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GOJ HOPES ARREST LEADS TO IRAQI STABILITY 
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2. (U) Asma Khader, GOJ spokesperson, provided the official 
government commentary in a statement December 14.  She said 
that for Jordan, the "first and final word on the arrest and 
fate of Saddam Hussein should be for the Iraqi people."  She 
expressed Jordan's support for the rebuilding of Iraqi 
institutions, and hoped the arrest of Saddam would turn a 
page in Iraq's history and hasten the resumption of stability 
and Iraqi self-governance. 
 
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JORDANIANS HOPE TO MOVE ON 
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3. (C) Reactions of average Jordanians varied from sadness to 
hope that Saddam's arrest will lead to stabilization in Iraq. 
 Several Palestinian-Jordanians were dismayed that Saddam, 
once a proud and strong Arab leader who espoused the 
Palestinian cause, looked like a defeated and disoriented old 
man.  A French journalist who sampled Jordanian public 
reaction stated that many Jordanians feel "a little sad" 
about the circumstances of the capture.  The journalist added 
that it was not a sense of humiliation, just sadness at the 
human deterioration of this once iconoclastic Arab leader. 
Several Jordanian businessmen welcomed the news of Saddam's 
arrest and were cautiously optimistic that this would 
translate into a better business climate between Jordan and 
Iraq, provided the security situation improves.  Farouq 
al-Hadidi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Trade and 
Industry, told EconCouns that government officials and other 
businesspeople he deals with have all welcomed the news and 
hope that the result will be an end to the attacks and more 
stability (and Jordanian business) in Iraq. 
 
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SOME STILL SUPPORTING SADDAM 
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4. (C) Not all Jordanians welcomed the arrest, Islamic Action 
Front MP Azzam Hneidi told the New York Times that Saddam's 
arrest was "bad news."  "To us," Hneidi continued, "Saddam 
was a symbol of defiance to the U.S. plans in the region. 
And we support any person who stands in the face of American 
dominance."  Expressing a similar sentiment, Mohammad Najib 
Rashdan, a Jordanian lawyer, contacted PolFSN to express the 
interest of a group of 50 Jordanian lawyers in representing 
Saddam Hussein in court.  He stated that President Bush said 
that Saddam was entitled to a fair trial and that every 
defendant has a right to legal counsel.  He asked that the 
Embassy pass his request on to the CPA. 
 
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JORDAN-BASED IRAQIS HOPE FOR CLOSURE 
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5. (C) A contact who left Iraq at the age of sixteen told 
PolOff that she cried tears of joy on hearing the news. 
April 9, she declared, was the day Baghdad fell, "but 
December 14 was the day Saddam fell".  She went on to say 
that she was present when the news broke at a gathering with 
other Jordan-based Iraqis, who all kept asking "Iraq without 
Saddam?  What will become of us?"  She said Iraqis are afraid 
of the word "democracy", and of the freedom to choose, 
although she was confident that Iraqis possess the ability 
and willingness to move forward, given proper guidance.  She 
recounted how a friend in Baghdad told her that she had been 
living under Saddam's terror for the last thirty years, and 
everyday when she woke up she felt disgusted at living under 
his regime.  Now, for the first time, "she will wake up and 
not feel this way any longer." 
 
6. (SBU) The Ambassador encountered a similar reaction when, 
simultaneously with CPA's press conference, he told a group 
of Iraqi women leaders attending the Women Waging Peace 
conference in Amman that Saddam had been captured.  The group 
exploded into applause and ululation. 
7. (C) Several Iraqi businessmen in Jordan urged the 
Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to focus on providing 
jobs for Iraqis as a way to dampen incidents of violence in 
Iraq.  They alluded to an old Iraqi proverb that says, "Get 
them busy quickly", as a means to ward off trouble from idle 
hands. 
 
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AND SOME REACTIONS FROM IRAQ 
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8. (U) Manal Omar, country director for NGO Women for Women 
International in Baghdad, said via e-mail that she was with a 
group of Iraqi women when the news of Saddam's arrest was 
announced.  According to Omar, almost all broke into tears 
and sobs, finding it hard to believe that the man who had 
ripped their lives apart by murdering their husbands, sons 
and fathers had finally been captured.  These women also 
found it ironic that Saddam, a feared dictator who had 
brought Iraq to its knees and sold its people for political 
gain, was now "at the bottom".  Omar described the scene 
after the women had dried their tears as one of joyous shouts 
of "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) and disbelief that they had 
witnessed in their lifetimes Saddam's arrest.  The Iraqi 
women then joined to sing old Iraqi songs of joy, "Tonight is 
an amazing night, a night to celebrate." 
 
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PRESS REACTION: OUTRAGE AND SADNESS 
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9.  (U) On December 15, all Jordanian dailies ran headlines 
regarding Saddam's capture.  The center-left Arabic daily 
Al-Dustour wrote, "The West and Israel welcome the news, joy 
and sadness in Iraq, Arab public opinion divided". 
Al-Dustour's editorials stated that while much would be said 
about Saddam's capture and trial, the focus should be on 
Iraqis and their chance for a better life once the occupation 
ends and elections for a representative government occur. 
Another editorial in Al-Dustour stated that now that Saddam 
was finished, the U.S. "occupation" was still a "bleeding 
wound" against Iraq and its people.  The semi-official Arabic 
daily Al-Rai wrote that Saddam was a symbol of Arab 
nationalism and Arabs had a right to be angry over Arab and 
Iraqi dignity.  It added that Saddam may be over, but Iraq's 
resistance will not end until it rids itself from the 
occupiers and regains its independence and sovereignty. 
Another Al-Rai editorial bemoaned Saddam's undignified and 
less-than-courageous fall, while yet another warned that 
Saddam's capture raises the probability of a George Bush 
re-election, which augurs a grave threat to Arab and 
international unity. 
 
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COMMENT 
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10. (C) The capture of Saddam Hussein came as a bit of a 
shock to Jordan, where many believed that he -- "like Osama 
Bin Laden" -- would be able to evade capture by the Coalition 
indefinitely.  Notwithstanding the continued support of a 
determined minority, most Jordanians will view Saddam's 
capture as the real end of his regime, and as a real 
opportunity to turn the page on the past 23 years and move to 
a new era. 
 
11. (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at 
 
http://www.state.sgov/p/nea/amman/ 
 
or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET 
home page. 
GNEHM