US embassy cable - 04AMMAN5415

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005415 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, 
I/GNEA, B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN 
USAID/ANE/MEA 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
PARIS FOR O'FRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KMDR JO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON TRANSFER OF SOVEREIGNTY TO 
IRAQ 
 
Summary 
 
-- Front-page reports in all papers today, July 1, 
highlight issues related to Saddam Hussein's trial and 
his appearance in court.  All papers also highlight 
Foreign Minister Muasher's remarks, focusing on 
Jordan's decision to appoint an ambassador to Iraq and 
on Muasher's description of Saddam's trial and the 
handover of sovereignty as Iraqi internal affairs in 
which Jordan will not get involved. 
 
Editorial Commentary 
 
-- "Trying the past and correcting the balance of 
justice" 
 
Daily columnist Mahmoud Rimawi writes on the op-ed 
page of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai 
(07/01):  "Speeding procedures for prosecuting members 
of the former regime seems a little hasty from the 
political point of view.  One finds oneself agreeing 
with others who say that the priority under the 
current circumstances is national reconciliation, 
establishing security, and speeding the end of the 
occupation.  One is convinced that once actual 
sovereignty is achieved . the activation of the 
judiciary and the start of any prosecution measures 
would be more appropriate, since they would not be 
suspected of any influence from whatever source..  At 
the end of the day, what is required at this stage is 
not to resort to the logic of vengeance and fall under 
the pressure of past bitterness, but rather it is 
achieving a victory for the principle of justice and 
to present a new model for a new Iraq, where 
authoritarianism and blind exercise of power have no 
place.  This requires an effort not to slide into 
modernized dictatorship, where change is limited to 
formalities and new faces and new names.  The point is 
for core change to take place." 
 
-- "Not before the elections!" 
 
Columnist Saleh Qallab writes on the back-page of semi- 
official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai (07/01): 
"Saddam Hussein's trial will not take place until 
after the U.S. elections.  U.S. President George Bush, 
who is currently waging a difficult elections battle, 
would not want to open doors that bring in new cold 
winds and it would be better for him to keep this file 
closed until the battle is over..  Saddam Hussein, if 
placed before media cameras, will have to say 
everything, revealing a lot about the secrets of the 
Iraq-Iran war and the American role in it, and talking 
about his previous relations with Rumsfeld.  He will 
also talk about the story of the weapons of mass 
destruction and about the aerial photos that American 
satellites used to provide him with on a daily basis 
about the battles with Iran.  Of course, Saddam 
Hussein will talk about the details of his arrest and 
will reveal the truth about the faade of the `spider 
hole' and whether the Americans were really the ones 
who captured him..  Saddam Hussein was handed over to 
the Iraqis and to the temporary government yesterday, 
but this handover is just a formality.  He will remain 
silent and will not be allowed to talk . until after 
the U.S. presidential elections". 
 
-- "Who is going to try him?" 
 
Columnist Hayat Hweik Atiyeh writes on the op-ed page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(07/01):  "Why was Chalabi chosen to lead the trial of 
Saddam Hussein?  Does this Iraqi lawyer, who worked 
for years with a law firm owned by an Israeli lawyer 
known to be close to the Likud and to Sharon, have the 
right to prosecute the Iraqi president?  Under the 
law, any law, this man could himself be put on trial. 
Iraq was and continues to be up to this moment 
(legally speaking) at war with Israel, and thus for an 
Iraqi citizen to cooperate with another Israeli person 
is as good as grand treason.  How could a person 
accused of a crime such as this head a court and issue 
verdicts?  This is from a purely legal point of view. 
As from the political viewpoint, the issue is far more 
serious: it means that the trial of the Iraqi 
president and leadership had been prepared in an 
Israeli law office and was sent over in full with an 
Iraqi lawyer." 
 
-- "Nasserites in Lebanon and Saddamism in Jordan" 
 
Daily columnist Urayb Rintawi writes on the op-ed page 
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour 
(07/01):  "The enthusiasm for Saddam Hussein and the 
Saddamism that we see these days in Amman, I believe, 
exceeds any power and influence that the deposed 
president has even in his own homeland.  Some of us 
are more preoccupied with the fate of this man and his 
team than we are with the fate of Iraq and its people. 
The number of Jordanians who enthusiastically defend 
him are more than their Iraqi counterparts.  What is 
strange is that this enthusiasm did not wane at all 
despite the exposed scandals, human rights violations 
and crimes committed against the Iraqi people under 
the former regime.  What is even stranger is that some 
of those who are the most enthusiastic about defending 
the deposed president are, at the same time, the most 
enthusiastic about talking of freedom, democracy, 
pluralism and human rights in Jordan.  True, the post- 
Saddam era was not up to the level of promises and 
accomplishments for Iraq and Iraqis and the entire 
Arab nation.  Yet, the one thing that no one can 
contest is that the occupation's crimes and dirty 
practices can never be sufficient justification for 
defending Saddam and his regime.  This is a formula 
that Iraqis realized a long time ago as they shouted 
against both the former regime and the residing 
occupation." 
GNEHM